How to pivot from clinical work to product management in health tech

A Product Manager (PM) in health tech is the strategic bridge between users (usually patients or clinicians), business goals, and technology teams. PMs define what products to build, why they're needed, and how they should function.

Key responsibilities:

• Define product vision and roadmap
• Gather requirements from clinicians, patients, and other users
• Collaborate with engineers, designers, and regulatory teams
• Prioritize features 
• Oversee the product lifecycle from ideation to launch and iteration
• Ensure products are clinically sound, compliant, and user-centered

Why clinicians make excellent product managers

Your clinical background brings unique advantages to product roles:

• Deep empathy for patients and providers
• Strong decision-making under uncertainty
• Experience navigating complex systems like EHRs
• Familiarity with regulatory and privacy standards (e.g., HIPAA)
• Credibility with other clinical stakeholders

 As a pharmacist, I have found that deeply understanding pharmacy as well as broader healthcare workflows has tremendously helped inform my work as a product manager. This saves time in research and helps me build trust with users and stakeholders. 

Skills you’ll need to learn (and how to learn them)

Though your clinical background is a strength, PM roles also demand new skills. Here's what to focus on:

Bonus: Tools like Figma, Jira, Confluence, and Google Analytics often appear in job descriptions—get familiar with them!

Suggested transition steps for clinicians

1. Start shadowing PMs: If you're in a hospital or health system with a digital innovation team, ask to observe or help out with an ongoing initiative.
2. Work on side projects: Collaborate with startups or digital health hackathons. Document your work.
3. Reframe your resume: Focus on problem-solving, stakeholder management, and systems thinking.
4. Earn a PM certificate (optional): Not required, but useful if you lack business/tech exposure.
5. Network with health tech PMs: Use LinkedIn or find relevant communities.
6. Apply for associate PM or clinical PM roles: Some companies have entry points tailored for clinicians.
   
   

Key challenges & how to overcome them

Pros & cons of moving into Product Management

Pros:

• Influence at a strategic level
• Opportunity to improve systems at scale
• High demand in health tech startups and enterprises
• Lucrative compensation and growth potential
  
  

Cons:

• High responsibility and stakeholder pressure
• Requires a mindset shift: from accuracy to iteration
• Long feedback cycles compared to direct patient care
  
  

Salary expectations

• Associate PM / Clinical PM: $90K–$120K
• Mid-Level PM: $120K–$150K
• Senior PM: $150K–$180K+
• Director of Product: $180K–$250K+
  
  

These ranges vary by location, company stage, and whether it's a payer, provider, or tech-focused org.

A day in the life of a clinician-turned-PM

Morning: Standups with engineering, check progress on feature tickets
Midday: Review feedback from a clinician user group
Afternoon: Collaborate with design on prototypes for a patient onboarding flow
Late: Prioritize roadmap features for the upcoming quarter, document decisions in Confluence  

Final thoughts

Pivoting from clinical work to product management in health tech isn’t just possible—it’s increasingly in demand. Clinicians bring critical user insight, empathy, and problem-solving abilities that can transform digital products from usable to indispensable.

👉 Explore open roles and connect with digital health companies on the Hey Health Tech job board to begin your product journey today.