Ask HN: Is doing tech-related work in the American medical field horrible?

2 points by Throwawayh89 2 years ago | 3 comments

Everyone I know who works in American medicine says how much they hate it. Be them a doctor, nurse, receptionist, etc., etc. Everyone seems to complain they are overworked to the max and are considering leaving the field. Issues that existed before COVID have gone into overdrive over the last 4 years.

Curious if folks working at the intersection of tech and medicine also feel this way?

I've been considering exploring ways to get into this space because I see so many ways tech can help increase access to quality medical care without having to live in a big city or be your own best advocate. I am a bit terrified though, because of what I hear from people working in the industry.

syndicatedjelly 2 years ago |

I worked in med tech for the first 5 years of my career. The name of the game is regulation - everything is done to serve regulatory bodies. The amount of real innovation, even in "R&D" groups, is extremely small. Expect to spend much of your time wrangling documents (literally Word documents sometimes), with the occasional line or two of code per week if you're lucky. Don't get me started on meetings...

Even people with Ph.Ds spent their days being tortured by documents. Maybe startups are better, but big med tech is not a fun place to work. The people who succeeded and enjoyed the work, were the ones who knew how to play politics, or how to successfully avoid it.

bell-cot 2 years ago |

"Getting in" where, in what sort of role? There are vast differences between low-level controller programming for CAT scanners vs. being a Sales Engineer for some huge "does it all" hospital management software suite vs. being on SecTeam at 23&Me.

Throwawayh89 2 years ago | |

Not really sure, which is why I left it intentionally ambiguous.

Clearly, "tech" roles on the front lines of medicine such as a CT Scan operator are going to suffer from the same stressors that others on the front lines experience. No reason to think that would be any different.