Written by: Jason Baker
You have no chance of success in Surgical Sales unless you learn another language. I’m not talking about Spanish, French, Mandarin Chinese or German. Learning the language of medicine is vital to landing and keeping a surgical sales job. As a surgical sales rep there is nothing more embarrassing than having a surgeon correct you on the pronunciation of a procedure you are supporting. Correct pronunciation of the surgeries you support is more important than your products, your sales process and your strategy in the field.
You could be the best surgical sales rep in the world, but if you get in front of a surgeon and mispronounce procedures it could cost you sales and even your job. Surgical procedures have long and possibly daunting names. Unless you were in pre-med for 4 years and medical school for another 4 years you will probably have some difficultly learning some of the procedures you will be responsible for selling. You will also need to be fluent in the language of human anatomy. It was just as hard for me to learn to pronounce surgical procedures as anybody else. It took me nearly 3 weeks to properly and consistently pronounce surgeries such as:
- Amygdalohippocampectomy
- Ventriculostomy
- Photorefractive Keratectomy
- Pancreaticoduodenectomy
- Hepatoportoenterostomy
- Salpingoophorectomy
- Diverticulectomy
Learning the vernacular of your new surgical sales job is like learning a new language. You need to speak this language on a regular basis with other people that are fluent in the language. I used a couple of great phone apps to help me learn the surgical sales language. These apps are not perfect, but they helped me in learning the language of medicine. Here are a few I recommend:
- SayMedicine – Medical Pronunciation
- Medical-Terminology
- Medical Terminology Pronunciation “Jukebox”
- Anatomy Pronunciation
If you are working in Surgical Sales you should be able to clearly and confidently pronounce every surgery you are involved in. If you can’t nail these words you won’t survive in surgical device sales. Learn the lanuguage of medicine and you’ll become a true expert in surgical sales.
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