For those who have the passion for saving and improving people’s lives, a career in manufacturing and developing medical devices is the one to go for. With the Indian market expected to grow to $6.41 billion by 2014, this is the time for aspiring professionals to pursue their dream, says Titus Arnold
The medical devices sector is one such field which gives the satisfaction of working towards improving people’s lives. The India’s medical device market is currently the fourth largest market in Asia with 700 medical device makers, and ranks among the world’s top 20. It is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 15.5 per cent and touch $6.41 billion by 2014.
India is amongst the top three emerging markets for direct investment by multinational companies operating in this sector. There are a number of factors driving growth in the sector including incidence of disease, awareness, better technologies and innovations that seek to make healthcare more affordable.
The rise in the number of hospitals and the increased requirement for healthcare facilities is also expected to fuel this growth and boost the need for advanced devices and equipment. This means that the need for trained technical staff will also grow at a rapid pace.
Scope
The career opportunities in this sector extend over a wide spectrum: Sales, marketing, product management, market development, clinical, supply chain, HR, finance, PR and communications, regulatory, legal, distributor management, sales force effectiveness and education.
The medical equipment industry covers a wide range of products, more than 14,000 different types, as per the Global Medical Device Nomenclature. Ranging from simple bandages to the most sophisticated life-saving products such as implantable pacemakers and defibrillators, disc replacements for the spine, stents, insulin pumps and many more.
The medical devices sector plays a crucial role in providing care to people starting from diagnosis, prevention, monitoring, treatment of the disease, improving the quality of life and now even some disease management after the implant.
Growth
Career progression is extremely performance-based in this industry. For example, in marketing, a candidate will enter the field at the product manager level and move up the ladder to senior product manager, marketing manager, and then director of marketing in relatively a short span of time. It is a well-recognised path for those who excel at their job. Companies are also fast tracking their top performers by giving them planned experiences and stretch assignments.
Eligibility
The R&D and device manufacturing is relatively small as compared to other sectors, but the potential exists and this can open opportunities for people with backgrounds in project management, product development, sourcing. People with qualifications in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering and PhD’s would be the ones on demand.
Medical devices companies have a very competitive and aggressive remuneration policy and tend to look after their employees well. With more players setting up shops in India, there is tremendous scope for jobs in this sector.
Recruitment
The medical devices industry has a need for both managerial and technical talent. The hiring strategy for each company varies and will depend on the approach to meet the demand-supply gap. Companies are creating visibility in social media, working on campus programs, strengthening referral programmes, mapping the talent in the industry and even outside the industry in a bid to bring in the best talent. Professionals in the medical devices space need to be more proficient at promoting value based products and solutions in the context of consumer needs. The start-up is at Rs1.2 lakh to Rs2.4 lakh per annum.
Skills Required
To be successful in the medical devices industry, one requires a working knowledge of the anatomy and a good knowledge of the therapy and other products. This is not at all a rocket science and a person who has the passion can pick this up easily. Grasping this would however be easier for students of life sciences, engineering, bio-medical engineering.
There are certain medical companies that hire B2B sales representatives into entry level sales positions. They usually want two-three years of successful performance with a company that has a good reputation for training recent college grads. One can have more success in getting some interviews if he could stay in their current position for another year or two and become known as a top-performer.
For a position in product management, market development, marketing, an MBA degree would be essential. They would be the internal consultants working on analytics and scenario painting etc. One also gets to work with the top notch medical practitioners and together the care pathway is worked upon.
In addition to functional expertise, skills in business partnership are very vital for success in areas such as finance, supply chain, HR and legal. At the end of the day, whichever department one works, it is saving a life that gives the work satisfaction.
(The writer is director, human resources, India Medtronic Private limited)