Medical Device Consulting Salaries

[deringer]

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Hello,
I'm currently going to the University of Chicago Medical School (Pritzker). I'll graduate with an MD in a couple years here and I'm considering a career in the medical device field. I already have a B.S. and M.S. in mechanical engineering. Has anyone heard about the compensation for consultants such as these? Thanks!

(I know this is the rotations and residencies forum, but I figured you all would probably have had some friends graduate medical school and go into consulting)

 

[md2b1]

Unfortunately I can't answer the question because I have the same question. I also have a MS in Mechanical engineering and have some interest along the medical device lines. Any comments welcome?

 

[surg]

Consultant, eh? Do you mean that you still want to practice medicine and do some advising for them on the side? Or do you want to work for them full time? Or do you want to join a venture capital firm? These are radically different career paths with differing requirements and compensation. Try to narrow this down and I'll give it a shot. One other thing, if it is either of the 2 latter options, you might want to consider the joint MD/MBA program between Chicago GSB and Pritzer since the MBA from a top 10 school would serve you well to jump into this full time (it can be done without it though, McKinsey recruits our MD students straight out of med school, although I have to be honest, I wonder if they realize just how little medicine we really know when we graduate med school!)

 

[mcwmark]

From what I've heard (I have a friend at Stanford GSB), MDs that go into "consulting" (i.e. Ernst & Young or McKinsey) tend to start out at the Associate level, or equivalent to an MBA grad in terms of salary, which was (last year, salaries may be down from these figures) Year 1: $120,000 + 20% bonus, Year 2: $150,000 +20% bonus, Year 3: $180,000 + 20% bonus.

Of course, these salaries are the result of a strong economy, so I have no idea if they will be around in a couple years. In addition, they will want to start you right away, which means forgoing your residency and thus your license to practice "medicine". You also should keep in mind that the job itself (unlike medicine) is quite economy-sensitive, and that there are pressures on consultants to perform or get pushed out.

In terms of actual consulting for medical device companies, I've never seen an actual MD consultant for those devices...usually I've seen former nurses or med techs that consult with hospitals/medical groups on the newest devices. (Their salaries tend to be much less than above, maybe 50%). I'm not sure there is a big job market for M.D.s that want to consult in the medical device arena.

However, if you want to get into actual engineering, it seems you would have a good background for it.

 

[Idon'tknow??]

I just left the consulting world (Accenture, formerly Andersen Consulting) to come to medical school this year. There is a strong need for medically minded individuals in the Pharma/Medical Products Divisions of firms. You'll have a very rough time getting in to the field due to the economy.
As for medical device consulting, in my estimate a medical degree would be overkill without the clinical experience gained in residency and practice. Also in consulting the same holds true. You will be much more marketable to Accenture, E&Y, PWC, etc. with a few years of clinical experience.
A word of caution --- the consulting and business world are much less glamorous than you might think.

 

[Idon'tknow??]

I just left the consulting world (Accenture, formerly Andersen Consulting) to come to medical school this year. There is a strong need for medically minded individuals in the Pharma/Medical Products Divisions of firms. You'll have a very rough time getting in to the field due to the economy.
As for medical device consulting, in my estimate a medical degree would be overkill without the clinical experience gained in residency and practice. Also in consulting the same holds true. You will be much more marketable to Accenture, E&Y, PWC, etc. with a few years of clinical experience.
A word of caution --- the consulting and business world are much less glamorous than you might think.

 

[mpp]

A relative of mine is an M.D. and works for an insurance company as a medical advisor to assist in calculating annuity disbursements. She earns in the $400,000 to $500,000 range. More money than she ever imagined she'd make. She practiced medicine for a few years (internal medicine) and did not find that fulfilling and left for the insurance business.

 

[prominence]

hi mpp,
i am also interested in working as a medical advisor and assisting in calculating annuity disbursements. does your relative also work in arkansas also? what is the name of the insurance company that your relative works for? does that person have any special connections? does he or she have any business experince or an MBA? is there a way i could contact your relative via e-mail to ask some specific questions? please write back and send me a reply. thank you.

 

[prominence]

mpp, are u out there?

 

[mpp]

Sorry for the delay, I missed a couple of days. My relative works in the northeast for Liberty Mutual. I'll ask if she'd be willing to share her e-mail. She had insurance company experience before going to medical school but I am not sure what her educational background was. I do not think she has an MBA.