TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Which "high tech boom" are you referring to? If you mean the "dot.com boom,"
probably not, because that one was basically the tulip boom all over again,
smoke and mirrors. However, it might just be similar to the "PC boom."
"Biomed" breaks down into two general areas, pharma (drugs) and device.
It's quite difficult to transition into pharma if you don't have a technical
background in medicine or biology. Device is another matter. Other than
the inevitable FDA validations, which in most companies are prepared by
regulatory affairs groups separate from the tech pubs groups, the user and
service docs for medical devices aren't really all that different from the
ones you'd prepare for a laptop computer, PDA or laser printer; you
document electronic, mechanical/electromech and software. And a lot of
the product designs and user docs do tend to try to approach "J. Average,"
because doctors, nurses and med techs are very busy people and the less
demanding a medical device is of their time and intelligence the more of
it they can devote to the other aspects of their work. And that doesn't even
begin to address the extent to which biomed/tech may affect the kinds of
devices that eventually become available for patient self/home use as both
the tech and the current trends in healthcare cost management continue to
evolve healthcare more and more toward a "patient, heal theyself" model.
