Man, that sucks...sorry to hear that. I would say this, though, going the Ortho route is a waste, too. Here's how I see it.
1) CRM is changing (dying).
2) Therefore, companies are laying folks off. Fully trained and certified CRM talent too expensive to keep around in this market of declining ASPs.
3) College kids need jobs, have relatively lower income demands and are eager to "break in".
4) Your husband and the ortho reps are competing against these laid off CRM folks and these college kids for a dwindling supply of jobs.
Its only going to get worse as remote follow up technology becomes remote reprogramming technology, and device clinics move away from their reliance on field reps and hire device nurses or throw that on someone at the clinic already.
+1 for that assessment.
I think there is a high level management decision to "let the old model go" in the rep/doc relationship.
You see, the margins are still so large even now, that lowering prices to the point of making CRM devices become a total commodity product, (like rubber gloves) it will still be possible to return shareholders enough profit. When the high cost of field personnel and all the infrastructure that support that model are removed, it will look like a net profit increase - thereby satisfying the hunger of the Wall Street gods for "growth."
Someone mentioned a "time machine." That is what one would need to use if they are being trained under the "old paradigm" of field sales/service in CRM.
Companies like MDT, STJ and even BSX will retrench back into the large academic centers to "mould the minds" of the fellows coming out of their training programs. As the previous poster noted, remote monitoring will have a place in the follow-up regime and yes, some poor medical assistant will be charged with "interrogating" the device upon patient arrival for their doctor visit.
The question becomes, how long will it take to shift to a fully self supportive (hospital/clinic based) model? CRM devices are not rubber gloves, nor stents. It does require some level of competence to support these devices beyond the implant unlike a stent.
Look back and talk to the "old time" reps if any still exist. I am talking pre-ICD days or just at their inception. All the reps did was run from hospital to hospital stocking the shelves with devices that the doctors implanted without support. At some point, there was a shift to support implants as devices became more complicated (so we were told) and "needed" rep support. Now, the pendulum is swinging in the opposite direction. This time, there will not be any reps running from account to account, we have FedEx for that.
I am not sure if dumping $25K - $35K on a very specialized training program that is based on an old paradigm is a good investment. I don't care which school it is. (ITT Tech come to mind?)
All of that said, the PrepMD and ATI students that I have met have been well prepared for the job as it is currently defined. I just think there is no long term prospect given the shift.
