Medical Device Educator

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Specializes in OB.

I have been a bedside nurse on a Labor & Delivery unit for over 11 years. While I love my job, I think I am ready to pursue another avenue in nursing. I am looking into jobs to become a medical device educator. I am open to extensive traveling, as i am currently single and child-free. I am finding it difficult to finds jobs and/or land an interview as I can't imagine my resume looks appealing with only bedside nursing experience. I have tried to highlight my education experience listing myself as a primary preceptor for new staff as well as a Childbirth Educator Instructor. However, that still has yet to land me an interview. Anyone out there have this kind of job, and if so, how did you get your foot in the door? In your job search, did you just look at jobs postings on medical device companies, or how did you go about your search? How is the pay in the area of nursing?

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.

I'm not exactly sure what type of position you're looking for. Are you hoping to land a sales position with a medical device company?

Or is there such a position as Medical Device Educator within a facility? I'm guessing the answer to that is no.

If I'm correct in my guess, and you are looking to land a position with a medical device company, then I will say good luck to you. In my experience, medical salespersons are, across the board, young, attractive, high-energy, and in the case of females, able to work 12-hour days in spike heels.

If you fit that description, then you might have a chance. If not, then go for it anyway. I am always open to the possibility of being wrong.

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Specializes in OB.
I'm not exactly sure what type of position you're looking for. Are you hoping to land a sales position with a medical device company?

Or is there such a position as Medical Device Educator within a facility? I'm guessing the answer to that is no.

If I'm correct in my guess, and you are looking to land a position with a medical device company, then I will say good luck to you. In my experience, medical salespersons are, across the board, young, attractive, high-energy, and in the case of females, able to work 12-hour days in spike heels.

If you fit that description, then you might have a chance. If not, then go for it anyway. I am always open to the possibility of being wrong.

I am not interested in landing a sales position for the specific piece of equipment (being a "salesman" is not my cup of tea), but rather provide education to the staff once the piece of equipment is purchased. Those positions do not exist within the facility, but rather within the Medical Device Company. So I wouldn't work for a specific health care system, I would work for the Medical Device Company and would travel to different health care systems to provide education to the staff. I would assume this position also works closely with a Sales Team, however, their specific role is to provide the education and end-user support after the sale is completed.

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I'm not exactly sure what type of position you're looking for. Are you hoping to land a sales position with a medical device company?

Or is there such a position as Medical Device Educator within a facility? I'm guessing the answer to that is no.

If I'm correct in my guess, and you are looking to land a position with a medical device company, then I will say good luck to you. In my experience, medical salespersons are, across the board, young, attractive, high-energy, and in the case of females, able to work 12-hour days in spike heels.

If you fit that description, then you might have a chance. If not, then go for it anyway. I am always open to the possibility of being wrong.

No offense but I do not think you have much experience with medical device reps, what you are describing is the stereotype for pharma reps but then again even that is a stereotype.

I am short, fat, bald, and have a member...I hope I don't have to quit now :(

Some facilities actually do have a medical device educator, especially the larger hospitals. It always makes my job sooo much easier when there is one.

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If you want to work for a manufacturer as a consultant or educator there are a few of things to know.

The manufacturer is looking for some kind authority or experience that you can use to justify your opinions. For example, if you are working with IV catheters then a CRNI or CCRN certification would be helpful. They like letters behind your name! Typically the positions are salaried and it is pretty good, very good depending on the company and your background. Benefits are pretty much universally great with most all of the manufacturers. You generally will never work a holiday, ANY holiday, and usually not the week of the holiday. This does not count against your vacation time mind you. You generally will have to extensively travel though, usually Mon-Thur but all your travel is paid for and you usually get a daily meal stipend. Figure on getting a corporate card that everything is put on. The good news is you will never have to pay for a vacation again because you will earn so many points with hotels, cars, and flights!

It is far easier to get a job with a per-diem education company. We hire these companies to provide us with per-diem nurses that we send to hospitals to actually in-service. Generally you are not expected to be experts on the product, just teach the basics. The pay is usually comparable to floor nursing pay and usually there are no benefits or anything. The nice thing is like any per-diem work, it is super flexible. Companies like Novasyte and Inventiv are big per-diem companies. Quintiles is another company to look at, they are a staffing agency used my many manufacturers and pharma.

You will need a cover letter, a professional resume, and a LinkedIn profile with a professional picture. Search on Indeed for registered nurse” or clinical consultant.” If you directly want to work for a manufacturer then you need to go into your supply room and write down every single company you see and then go to all of their websites and again search for registered nurse” or clinical consultant.” Also try MedReps.com, it is a job board that manufacturers and pharma companies post to, unfortunately you have to buy a membership. The advantage to MedReps is that some companies exclusively post to it.

Be nice to all of your vendors and chat them up, get their info and add them to LinkedIn. They are your best resource to getting into the business. Start going to professional nursing organization's meetings too, vendors are ALWAYS present at them so it is a good way to network.

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Do you have a Bachelor's in anything besides nursing? Hiring managers don't look favorably on nurses without a business degree. That's why so many people get an ADN then a Bachelor's in something like Marketing, Management, or Finance. Better equipped for real upward mobility besides being a unit manager or house supervisor.

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Do you have a Bachelor's in anything besides nursing? Hiring managers don't look favorably on nurses without a business degree. That's why so many people get an ADN then a Bachelor's in something like Marketing, Management, or Finance. Better equipped for real upward mobility besides being a unit manager or house supervisor.

In my experience in industry no one cares what your bachelor's is in, it is just a bachelor's. About the only thing I have seen interest in is an MBA but only for certain positions and most companies are willing to pay for someone to get their MBA.

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I know this is an older post, but in case you're still looking, I'd say just keep applying. Definitely work on getting your nursing certifications and become involved with QI committees and projects to bolster your resume.

Networking is key. As mentioned above, play nice with your vendors. Apply for jobs online and be willing to relocate if needed. Consider working for medical device startups to get your feet wet if you're having trouble with landing a position one of the bigger companies.

Most of these positions on job sites are listed as "clinical sales specialist," "field Clinical Specialist," & "clinical applications specialist."

Feel free to message me if you have any questions.

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