What are the pros + cons of working in Research/Healthcare?

Bridget
Community Manager
Community Managers are Atlassian Team members who specifically run and moderate Atlassian communities. Feel free to say hello!
August 17, 2020

Hi everyone! 

I was recently asked by a student from my alma mater about the pros and cons of working in tech. I thought it was a really excellent question - we often advertise the highlights of our industry to young people who are interested, but rarely share the downsides! 

So, I'd love to hear from you - what are some of the pros AND cons of working in Research or Healthcare that you'd share with anyone who is considering the industry for their own career? (What do you wish you'd known before getting into it)? 

Can't wait to hear your answers :). Happy Monday!

Bridget

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Benoit August 17, 2020

Hi,

I think the biggest downside is the regulation. Every field has its own level of regulation. Therefore, ISO or other apply. But for medical, with a good reason, we are at another level.

Outside of that, I think its a very good field to work in.

 

Benoit

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Bridget
Community Manager
Community Managers are Atlassian Team members who specifically run and moderate Atlassian communities. Feel free to say hello!
August 17, 2020

Ah, that's a good callout @Benoit ! How does regulation impact your role on a day-to-day?

Benoit August 20, 2020

Regulation are a good thing, but it creates a lot more validation than for a consumer product where you can tolerate a certain % of failure. Per example, Atlassian can tolerate a % of customer un happy example: Jira next gen projet over Server version which doesn't have this feature or a % of unresolved bug. In medical field, it is just unthinkable to keep living bugs. Your company can even be sued because of that. For the unhappy customer, it can make you run out of business since the competitors are quite present.

Let's says that regulation reduce your degree of liberty.

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Bridget
Community Manager
Community Managers are Atlassian Team members who specifically run and moderate Atlassian communities. Feel free to say hello!
August 24, 2020

Totally makes sense! Thank you for sharing :) 

Christian Tune April 22, 2021

Great point about regulation, it does provide clear boundaries. 

I've worked in the NHS in the UK and in the NDIS space in Australia, the challenge for regulation here was the changing nature of regulations in conjunction with a new business model for providing care(smaller independent providers and funding to participants). 

i.e. NDIS Providers would be forever trying to figure out if they were allowed to do something,  after spending a lot of effort figuring it all out the regulation would be modified or something like the business model/pricing would be changed and make that provider's business unsustainable. 

I still see lots of questions around 'how' they can move their current business to support NDIS participants.

Chris

Josue Lopez December 29, 2021

I started my IT career in ecommerce company similar like Amazon; after 4 years I moved on to healthcare, some of the benefits I can share are the following:

  • It seems my job has a clear meaning, remember you'll be working with real patient data. 
  • Healthcare is a high demand, as an essential business. 
  • If the corporation is indeed a non profit, it will help with student loan forgiveness. 
  • Some struggles, fast faced, and short deadlines. 
Like Mark Mosior likes this
Mark Mosior March 15, 2022

I thing the best part of what we are doing is that we are making a difference in the lives of people with a disability and seniors.  It is very rewarding, though the work is not always easy.

Craig Nodwell
Community Leader
Community Leader
Community Leaders are connectors, ambassadors, and mentors. On the online community, they serve as thought leaders, product experts, and moderators.
July 12, 2022

I would have to agree with Mark, it's the impact that the technology makes on peoples lives that makes working in health care so rewarding.

Ruben Cortez December 28, 2022

Over the decades as a tech professional in the US, I've worked in hospitals, pharma, and healthcare research, among others. The regulations are needed and offer an interesting challenge to a career. The IT healthcare and research spaces are ripe for competition, especially with EMR. Also, there are mountains of data for medical professionals to evaluate, sourced from many types of devices.  The IT opportunities in these areas are global. 

Working with smart engineers to create cool apps or EV vehicles that bring in tons of cash might be exciting. But it's far more rewarding to help smart doctors, nurses, and scientists solve problems that benefit people's health, improve the air we breathe, and help us understand the natural world.

The only con might be the funding or pay. In the past, there was a heavy dependency on gov't grants or taxes. Now we're seeing money coming in from IT firms, Amazon, Google, and even private philanthropy.

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