How Should Technical Communication Students Best Prepare for Careers in Medical Device Companies?

Abstract

The Twin Cities is a hotspot for the medical device industry, which has a high demand for technical communicators, so many local technical communication students become interested in finding a career in this field. This study asks the question “how should technical communication students best prepare for careers in medical device companies?” To investigate it, five technical communicators from four medical device companies in the Twin Cities were interviewed about technical communication in the field, possible challenges to new communicators, important skills for this career, and their recommendations for new technical communicators to prepare for a career in this field. Key focus areas (KFAs) for students were identified from the interview results and compared to curricula at the University of Minnesota (UMN). Strengths and gaps were identified between the two, and recommendations on how students should fill those gaps were provided. The goal is to make technical communication students better candidates for positions at medical device companies and increase their success.