Helping people from within the Medical Device Industry – Jill’s Story

PG DIP in Medical Device Technology & Business Graduate

In 2022, I decided to embark on a transformative journey with Griffith College and Innopharma. Having worked as a radiographer for five years, I became exceedingly interested in medical devices and their functionality. My experience within a hospital environment and my passion for technology prompted me to enrol in the PGDip in Medical Device Technology and Business. I wanted to leave patient-side and continue to help people from within the medical device industry. This course would provide a unique blend of technology and business modules which would significantly broaden my job scope, having initially completed an undergraduate degree in radiography. 

Choosing this course would allow me to integrate my radiography expertise with present and emerging medical device technologies. However, the course content completely surpassed my expectations. Throughout the year, we covered a broad spectrum of health/medical technology modules and business modules touching on operational excellence and innovation, leadership strategies and company culture, health information systems, quality systems and regulations, device validation and verification, device design, research methods and so much more. 

Of course, there were struggles along the way – balancing social life with education and work. The faculty understood this and allowed us students to request schedule amendments where we deemed absolutely necessary. However, every lecture was recorded which helped those of us (like me!) working night shifts who could not attend the evening lectures. The recorded lectures were truly a lifesaver when it came to finding a work/life balance and the lecturers were always available to answer any queries you might have – their dedication was palpable and there was nothing they wouldn’t try their best to help with! 

Though many of the lectures were delivered online, we also had the opportunity to travel to Dublin or Limerick to experience certain lectures and workshops in person and to meet both faculty and peers. This was a great opportunity to form connections and network with others in our prospective field. One lecturer even deliberately formulated our group projects around where we live – giving those of us living in close quarters an opportunity to meet in person, share our personal experiences and truly get to know one another. 

As always, funding the course isn’t always easy and I was fortunate enough to receive funding from the Springboard initiative, having to pay just 10% of the total course fee. However, the college also offers payment plans for those students who aren’t able to pay the entirety of their fees upfront. 

When it came to looking for employment, I truly felt the weight of the content covered throughout the PGDip in Medical Device Technology and Business. I could have applied for one of the many vacant positions within the medical device industry – beit in regulatory affairs, quality control, quality assurance, failure analysis, process technician and more. 

In November 2023, I was fortunate enough to graduate at the top of my class and that same month, I began my new career in failure analysis of consumer electronics. Though my intention was to work with medical devices, I quickly realised that the underlying principles taught throughout this course were applicable not only to the medical device industry but to many industries, widening my job search even further. After completing this course, I know there’s a bright and varied future ahead for me and I look forward to seeing what that future holds – but first, I must complete my dissertation and convert this degree to an MSc!