Each year, we conduct MD+DI's Medtech Salary Survey as a service to our readers. We ask highly personal questions about your job and compensation in order to glean larger insights that can help you and your medtech peers go into your next performance review armed with information to ensure you're being paid fairly for the important work you do.  

But besides inquiring about your salary, bonus, and hours worked per week, we also ask why you do the work you do. I'm always amazed and inspired to see just how much most of you love your jobs and feel a sense of mission about working in the medtech industry. 

Sure, medtech is not an easy career path. In college, you probably put in a lot of hard study hours while many of your peers in less demanding majors were out partying. Once you land a job, the days can be long--more than one-third of the respondents to our survey put in 50 or more hours per week. Tough regulations may hamper your ability to innovate, and maybe you could make more money as a physician, a lawyer, or developing video games instead of life-saving devices. 

But for many of you, those downsides pale in comparison to the benefits you reap from a career in medtech.

For starters, there's job security. The aging population, rising incidence of chronic disease, and constant demand to reduce costs in healthcare ensure that a medtech professional's work is never done. 

"The world will always need medical care," as one of our anonymous survey respondents pointed out. 

The device business has also proved to be more recession-resistant than other industries and isn't as inclined to experience boom and bust cycles as other high-tech sectors. A number of respondents to our survey said medtech is an industry that seems to be keeping jobs--engineering positions, at least--onshore, too. 

"[Medtech is] one of the few growth areas available to engineers that still has a strong U.S. base," one respondent wrote.

Although you may be able to earn a higher salary by switching to a different industry like consumer tech, a career in medtech still offers employees the opportunity to make a good living. The median salary for medtech professionals was nearly $119,000 this year, according to our survey. That's more than double the median household income in the United States, according to the most recent statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Even beyond practical matters like stability and pay, medtech has more to offer employees than many other industries. While a few respondents griped about regulations that stifle innovation, many said they relish the challenge the industry presents to them as employees. 

"The work truly matters," one respondent wrote. "Sometimes it can be frustrating in today's regulatory environment because it can seem difficult to be innovative and progress can be slow, but millions of people benefit from the work that we do."

The dynamic nature of the medtech industry also excites many of its employees. 

"After years of 'me-too' products that were safe derivatives of aging therapies, there are dozens of new, cutting-edge therapies and applications," marveled one respondent.

But, not surprisingly, one of the main reasons medtech employees say they love their jobs is because they get to truly make a difference in the world. No matter what your job at a medical device or diagnostics company--whether it be engineer or office manager, regulatory affairs or executive--you are undoubtedly helping to bring life-saving or life-improving technologies to those who need them most.

As one respondent asked rhetorically, "What better job can you have than helping to develop products that will help so many patients?"  

Jamie Hartford is MD+DI's editor-in-chief and serves as director of content for medical brands in UBM's Advanced Manufacturing Group. Reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @MedTechJamie.

[image courtesy of STUART MILES/FREEDIGITALPHOTOS.NET]