The surgical sales representative: examining a new role in urogynecology

Excerpt

The face of the gynecologists’ sales representative is expanding from the all-too-familiar attractive, well-dressed, female office representative to include a new breed with a slightly different look. This is the young surgical device representative who is stereotypically male, muscular, tanned, and aggressive about “being there to observe a surgical case.” I was first introduced to this idea of case observation when a confident man in surgical attire approached me on my way into the operating room and asked if he could watch my scheduled cases that morning. I didn’t quite know what to say. How had he gained access to my schedule? Who had admitted him to the surgical suite? What exactly did he want to accomplish by being there? Did HIPPA exist? This was the first of many subsequent encounters initiated by him and his competitors, all vying to somehow get into my operating room “to provide support.” …