Will medical device quality engineer job drive me crazy?

Galwegian100

Just looking for some advice on maybe changing career within the medical device industry. I was a civil engineer for 10 years working on sites but due to the down turn I went back to college to try to change career direction. After a few months working in a med. dev. company as part of internship programme I was lucky enough to get a full time job as a quality engineer.

I have been working there now for over a year and I am finding the constant paperwork hard to get used to. The company I am working for is very busy and I find myself constantly working extra unpaid hours to try to keep on top of the paperwork.

I don't know if my experience is typical of all quality engineer roles, I would like to hear others experience of working as quality engineers, because if my experience is typical I think I need to change to another role to maintain my sanity.

I do realize I am very lucky to have any type of job but since I am starting out in a new industry I feel I need to make sure I can have some job satisfaction. I have always preferred a balance of paperwork and hands-on work, but at the moment I am finding this line of work demoralizing.

Sorry for moaning , just need to vent my frustration. Any advice from someone within the med. dev. sector would be appreciated. Thank you.

looksee

I think if the term 'quality' is in your job title you are going to find a good bit of paperwork!

CatFromHue

Are you the only Quality Engineer in your company?

If not you could talk to the others about their previous experience or what they feel like your current company is like.

Do you have any contacts for any of the people who you went to college with? If so you could ask them what they're up to now.

marnieb

Yes I'm afraid that a quality position in a medical devices company would involve constant paperwork, every minute change has to be signed countersigned and the paper trail is always thorough. It is the same in the pharam environment, some people wouln't mind it, for others it drives them crazy!

Galwegian100

Thanks for the reply guys. To Answer your question CatFromHue there is another guy in a similar quality role to me at the company. He has been there for bout 2 years and reckons he is always snowed under with paperwork, he has not worked in a quality role anywhere else so he cant say if our company is typical. There seems to be a good bit of work for quality engineers but need to make sure I can cope with constant paperwork. I am hoping other companies may not be so chaotic!

Kellzer

I am working as a Quality Engineer in a med device company and came from a similar background to you. I find it mind numbingly boring checking and signing and rechecking things all day. Moving product from excel sheet 1 to 2 to 3 and back again. All paperwork and procedures-no room for any creativity whatso ever. Counting boxes and recording numbers off gauges. I can't see myself sticking it and to be honest from what I have seen I dont think there's any job I'll be able to stick in a medical device company with all the paperwork. I'm strongly considering doing a masters in software development because there's no way I can stick this job with it's total lack of any creative element! Sorry-not sure if that's what you want to hear! Plus-I find it a stretch refering to this position as an Engineer. First engineers i have ever seen that don't use calcuators or maths of any description.

James 007

I am in a similar situation, as per the above poster I find that the work is very much uncreative and yes alot of paperwork. My background is civil/structural engineering and am currently in a validation department. I too am searching for this role in the pharma sector with less of the paperwork. IQ/OQ/PQ's are far from the design engineering I used to do. It does take awhile to get used to all the paper work, and yes I too find it somewhat boring, not to mention the politics that goes on to try and get things done.

James 007

I am wondering in order to get job satisfaction, has anyone any idea what career path should an engineer take.

Drafting documentation is one thing but to keep doing the same thing over and over again in a repetitive nature is another.

professore

Is there any way it could be automated (speeded up), or done with an IT system?

James 007

professore wrote: »

Is there any way it could be automated (speeded up), or done with an IT system?

I suppose its not a question of speeding up this process, its a question of what you are learning from it. I have compiled documentation in relation to equipment for validation purposes, but am not getting much in terms of job satisfaction from it.

Within the pharma or medical device industry what suitable roles are good opportunity roles where one is getting really stuck in and learning and developing quickly etc.

ProEngineer

Hi all. I come from an civil engineering background too however I have limited experience due to the downturn. I currently hold a position within a light manufacturing company, design control and basic quality management. I would like to gain a position within a quality department in medical device manufacturing company, as there seems to be better career progression opportunities within this industry. I am not quite sure how I would go about gaining a position with no formal education in this discipline. Can anyone point me in the right direction as regards to training/education/internships??