Starting your medical device career

Extending life-spans is the name of the game when it comes to the medical device industry. Working in what primarily is a private industry, you will work for a company that helps identify, design, and develop new products and apparatus that will be used to diagnose, treat, or prevent medical conditions and diseases.

Over the years, the medical devices industry has helped contribute to a later average retirement age, cures to fatal diseases, better prospects for the ill, and increased life expectancy worldwide.

But how do you get started?

Required background & education

First and foremost, entering a career of this nature, you will need to have studied a degree relating heavily to science and biology (biological sciences), and preferably have a postgraduate degree of some form extending your knowledge of a field relating to medical devices, i.e chemical engineering.

Whilst it isn’t mandatory, an eye for design or marketing can also help you enter the industry, giving you a more thorough understanding of the industry as a whole. Despite the hard science nature of this industry, a creative mind will always do well in this field – if applied in the correct way.

Work ethic

Various traits as a profession will put you in better stead for employment I a medical devices company. Most work in this area is team based – so working cooperatively is paramount to success, and your communication skills will also come under close scrutiny – so you will need to be well-versed in camaraderie.

The medical devices industry has clear career progression, so you must learn management skills on the job– as one day you might well manage a team all working on the same problem.

Pay and competition for jobs

Aided by the fact that it is a private industry, there is a lot of money to be earned working in medical devices, with salaries climbing north of £60,000 per annum if you work in development, with medical sales jobs starting at £30,000 p.a.

However, because of this, the medical devices industry is an attractive area to work in, therefore you will be up against a reasonable amount of competition. To get ahead, you can choose to focus on medical devices research during your post-graduate course, producing papers on ideas of your own, or furthering current or pre-existing medical devices research, which will show potential employers that your mind is on topic when it comes to applying to medical devices jobs.

Join us and be part of something great