Most Important Skills For A Regulatory Affairs Analyst At A Large Medical Device Company
A Regulatory Affairs Analyst's success hinges on "organization," effectively managing multiple requests and communicating information clearly across diverse teams—from engineering to sales and clinical staff. The ability to learn quickly, convey confidence while admitting knowledge gaps ("I don't really know what goes into a God bless surgery"), and bridge communication styles between these various groups are equally crucial for success in this role.
Communication, Organization, Problem-Solving, Learning Agility, Confidence
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Ryan Perera
Regulatory Affairs Analyst
Large Medical Device Company
UCLA 2015
Boston University: Master’s in Medical Sciences (2018) UCLA: MBA (2024)
Biology & Related Sciences
Healthcare, Medical & Wellness
Operations and Project Management
Took Out Loans
Video Highlights
1. Organization: Effectively managing multiple requests and information to ensure clarity for various team members (engineers, doctors, nurses, sales, management).
2. Communication: Adapting communication styles to interact with various teams (sales, engineering, management, medical professionals) with diverse perspectives and priorities.
3. Learning Agility: Demonstrating confidence and a willingness to learn about new products and procedures, conducting research to understand complex medical issues when necessary to effectively communicate and collaborate.
Transcript
What skills are most important for a job like yours?
The three most important skills are organization, communication, and a willingness to learn.
First, organization is crucial. You need to be very good at organizing information in ways that are clear for other team members. The engineering team isn't talking to the doctor, and regulatory team members aren't talking to the doctor or nurse. You are the one communicating with them.
You need to be able to communicate with nurses, get that information, and organize it clearly. If you have multiple requests outstanding, you must be organized enough to know which ones to follow up with now, which ones to keep an eye on, and which ones are good to go. A good level of organization is very important.
Communication is also very important. For my role, at least, I had to talk to nurses, salespeople, regulatory people, engineering, and management. All these people have different skill sets and think in different ways. An engineering mindset is very different from a salesperson mindset.
As the person in between, you have to be able to communicate between them. The salesperson might be worried about how many products an issue could affect, while the engineering team might be more concerned about the exact issues on the device observed during a case or surgery. Helping them work together to get information from the salesperson to the engineering team, and then engineering information back to the salesperson, is very important.
Finally, being able to learn about a bunch of different products, or at least being willing to learn, is vital. You also need to be able to convey confidence over the phone. When you're talking to a nurse, there will be times when they discuss a certain surgery, and you might not know the exact details. That's okay because you're not a doctor or a nurse.
By being able to convey confidence, you can say something like, "I'm not certain about this," and ask for background information about the procedure. This ensures you have as much information as possible. Later, you can research things you don't know, like what goes into a specific surgery, if it's important for a case or complaint. This allows you to communicate that information effectively the next time you follow up.
So, organization, communication, and a willingness to learn, along with confidence, are very important skills to have.
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