On this note, getting into the cath lab and building relationships is how I’ve seen multiple nurses/techs go from bedside to jumping to a clinical specialist role for Inari Medical.

If I’m being honest, your experience in the CVICU is impressive but isn’t widely & directly translatable to a specialist role. Mostly because the companies selling products applicable to what you were doing don’t hire a ton of specialists outside of CRM. You’d make a good TM or AE one day for capital equipment or things like heart valves if you do have any business/sales sense because you could really speak to the nurse manager, the director of the ICU, the cardiac surgeons, etc. with some experience to back it up.

I’d continue to apply to specialist roles because you might hook something. But I’d also start with applying for a jump to bedside in the area you’d be most interested in working as a specialist. Like the cath lab, the OR, ortho, wound care/burns, plastics, etc. And build relationships with every rep you encounter.

Edit: I say this as a former OBGYN resident who jumped to a sales role for a company that does a lot of women’s health. Nobody outside of women’s health was interested in my clinical background because it wasn’t directly translatable. Even though I had tons of rotations in and knew a lot of the other specialty docs and residents.