The digital future for medtech and life sciences workers

The global medical community has borne the brunt of COVID-19 and, behind the scenes, in labs and research, the path through the pandemic fog has been found. The enduring memory of the pandemic will be how frontline medical services rallied in the face of a generationally defining problem, and how background medtech finally pushed itself into mainstream medical culture and popular consciousness as able to prevent the spread of, then vaccinate against, COVID-19. 

The medtech world has never been shy about technical innovation. From modern diagnostics, innovative triage and telemedicine to drug creation, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and gene-sequencing, the technicians behind the doctors and nurses have always pushed boundaries to create a healthier, happier world, and more efficient and life-saving medical treatments.

As we steer a course into a digitally heavy 21st century, the previously cloistered and highly academic world of medical technology has been democratised. Outlier advancement in computing, application technology, wearable tech and cloud-based data has upended technical preconceptions and traditional medical application. 

Considering the use-case data coming out of medical facilities across the world, this hasn’t come soon enough. From mRNA vaccine research being the underpinning of one of the world’s most effective COVID vaccines, to wearable tech monitoring patient vitals in 'hands free' wards across the world to lessen the spread of the disease, technology has become central to medicine … and it continues to prove itself worthy of huge amounts of investment.^1,2 

Medtech does, however, have decriers. From intrusion on public health by private behemoths, to huge ethical issues with data collection (and buying) and questions around the analysis of this data, medtech is still treading new ground.^3,4 

Also, the question of recruitment and development of talent in schools, universities and further education institutions will be raised if STEM subjects are not prioritised to meet future demand. Tech progress doesn’t happen in a vacuum, after all. Despite there being improvements in this regard getting more people involved in technology and science (T-Levels, Women In STEM), the rapid shift to the digital realm, and how the medical world will continue to benefit from it, needs to be supplemented with passionate, able and trained minds, long term.^5,6

It’s safe to say that the future is tech, although how tech, remains to be seen. But, as governments and the wider public wrestle with the ethical implications of Big Tech helping to pioneer, medtech is innovating, constantly. 

Here is what Check-a-Salary sees as the future of medtech, and for those interested in working in this field, we’ve listed example career paths and salary expectations in each sector to further whet your appetite.

Biomedical engineering/biomedical scientist

• Bioengineers are cross-industry pioneers, and this growing sector is vital for curing disease and engineering new, novel ways of helping those most in need. 

• Developments in tissue engineering (creating tissue in labs, for example), robotic surgery, nanorobots, VR, microbubbles, prime editing and miniaturisation and material innovation are all examples of bioengineering in action.

The average salary in bioengineering is £41,837.76.⁷ A list of all medtech and engineering salaries can be found here.

Microbiologist

• Microbiology has been called the “a quiet revolution with many benefits”, and its leading lights have been pioneering advancement in the science of the unseen.⁸ The microbial world is the inverted space race — instead of looking out, we look in, and microbiologists work on the study of organisms such as bacteria, archaea, viruses, fungi, prions, protozoa and algae.⁹ 

• All of which “play key roles in nutrient cycling, biodegradation/biodeterioration, climate change, food spoilage, the cause and control of disease, and biotechnology”. Indeed, the very future of the human race will undoubtedly require the mastery of this tiny world.

The average salary in microbiology is £30,401.¹⁰

Digital health

• Innovation saves lives. But digital health (DH) innovation also helps streamline labour, reduce costs, helps the running of medical facilities and can improve patient experience.¹¹ Telemedicine has found its way back into the centre of non-emergency first response, but patient cynicism can stymie the good work of digital healthcare professionals (plus googling symptoms can be a stressful gamble). The digital space, however, has upended every other industry, and innovation in healthcare continues unabashed. 

• Mobility and portability of on-demand healthcare parallels that of the 'always on’ culture of services online and on mobile devices; edge data use, wearable tech and triage (plus the massive amounts of data collected that needs to be managed securely); virtual reality (VR) healthcare; predictive healthcare and AI — all of these digital innovations are already being used within healthcare settings. They will be used more.

The average salary within DH is £38,493; there is, however, a very large pool of learning that the sector can pull from due to its wide variety of digital inputs and learnings.¹²