In this video Rachael Turner, Associate Director of Human Factors and User Research at Takeda Pharmaceuticals, shares career advice and recommendations for students interested in the field of engineering and infrastructure, health and bioscience. Wildcats@Work is a collaboration between the University of Arizona Alumni Association and Center for Career Readiness (CCR). To connect with Arizona alumni, visit https://beardownnetwork.com/. To learn more about programs and services by CCR, please visit https://career.arizona.edu/.
The pharmaceutical industry naturally works to develop novel and often life-changing therapies for patients in need. I work within the medical devices group, which supports the development of our devices and combination products, like prefilled pens as an example. The Human Factors team specifically works to positively impact the development of our medical devices to improve both patient safety as well as patient experiences. This includes aspects like human interface design, safety engineering, physical ergonomics, and user experience design. Our goal is really to understand how the devices can be intuitive and useful to the broad spectrum of our users. When I was at the University of Arizona, I majored in Biosystems Engineering, which is a very small department on campus, and then went on to get my PhD in Biomedical Engineering. My education and past experiences have always been in research and development and working in healthcare and medicine. While working as part of device development, I was really drawn to my current work and specialization in human factors through my passion and interest in understanding how we can improve the development of these medical devices for our patients. I excelled in this specific area of research and development through my willingness to learn and take on related and new experiences. When working in the healthcare industry, specifically in research and development, you’re continuously learning—whether it’s pursuing a graduate degree, taking courses toward a certificate, or even attending a seminar on a topic. You’re constantly educating yourself in the latest medical advancements. You’re also working with a diverse group of stakeholders—not only with the technical group you work with, but also collaborating with groups such as commercial and regulatory. Being able to communicate effectively with these teams and work toward common goals is really essential to being successful. The challenges are also working with those different stakeholders, so it’s a bit of a blessing and a curse at the same time. But by focusing on the common goal, you can cross those barriers and come to a successful conclusion. I think the best advice I can give is to really look for on-the-job experiences. Even while you’re still in school, look for internships and co-ops that might help you work in the industry prior to graduating. This gives you the opportunity to apply what you’re learning at the university to practical experiences. At the same time, it helps you build a network of individuals—colleagues and contacts—that can potentially open the door to even more opportunities. As I mentioned before, my department at the University was very small, so we really got to know all the professors and researchers in our group. I had the opportunity early on to work on campus in a professor’s research lab, and then also worked on an independent study my senior year with a researcher at the Sarver Heart Center. These opportunities really helped me decide what I wanted to do and continue on to get a graduate degree. They also provided me with my initial network of mentors. I stayed in touch with these mentors throughout graduate school and into my early professional career. Having their advice and guidance really helped me succeed as I navigated my early career.
