The case for taking a job in regulatory affairs and never looking back
Olga van Grol-Lawlor didn’t know what regulatory affairs was when she interviewed for her first job in the profession.
“They asked me if I knew what regulatory affairs was. The truthful answer was no, but they grilled me anyway for about 45 minutes.”
She got the job, started working in regulatory affairs and never looked back.
Now she’s a manager of global regulatory intelligence and advocacy at Boston Scientific, where she’s worked since 2016. She’s based in the Netherlands and has been a RAPS member since 2020. Olga joined RAPS for a chat at RAPS Convergence 2022. This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.
How did you get into regulatory affairs?
By accident is the answer. I was writing a research thesis and I was in a new country and I was looking for a full-time job and the job agency sent me to one of the big multinational medical device companies. They asked me if I knew what regulatory affairs was. The truthful answer was no, but they grilled me anyway for about 45 minutes and they offered me a job when I was walking home.
And I didn’t look back. That was supposed to be a three-month assignment but it turned into a full-time contract, and over a decade later here I am. I love it. It’s great to work in an industry that’s helping patients. I think it’s really rewarding. Everyone feels very good about what they’re doing.
You mention how meaningful it is to help patients. For someone who might not know, how does regulatory affairs help patients?
We get devices to market, right? Without devices, there’s a major gap in healthcare. So getting devices onto the market is, I’d say, probably the premium thing.
How does RAPS membership help you?
For me, I’m pretty sure everyone says education. And education is really important. But for me, I don’t know if it’s just because I'm regulatory intelligence and advocacy, but the networking for me. Meeting other people who are experts, have the latest information, can point you in the right direction or connect you with someone else.
The one thing about RAPS: it’s all walks, right? So it’s not just industry. It’s not regulators. It’s not just notified bodies. It’s everybody. Coming together and sharing information. So that’s fantastic.
How did you first find out about RAPS?
Well I was first introduced to RAPS because my company has an enterprise membership. So it was through the company. When I moved into advocacy, my current boss asked me to cover RAPS Convergence. We attend conference and we bring some of the learnings back to other folks within Boston Scientific, trying to spread the knowledge and the education.
The first RAPS event I was ever at was virtual. It was RAPS Convergence 2021, and I found it fantastic. But the first face-to-face one was RAPS Euro Convergence in May in Amsterdam, and that was just phenomenal. It was great to see everybody face-to-face after so long. But also the networking. The networking was phenomenal. The education was great, the learnings. You’re talking to stakeholders that are really coming from all walks. So it’s not just the medtech companies. It could be the notified bodies. It could be the regulators. It could be the legal professionals. They’re really at the top of their game with their fingers on the pulse so you’re getting the latest news and education. You get as much from talking to people in between the sessions and at the networking events as you do at the actual sessions themselves.
What’s one thing you enjoyed here at RAPS Convergence 2022?
They had speed mentoring, kind of like speed dating with RAPS Fellows. That was really cool. I met so many industry leaders who were just genuinely open to meeting younger professionals in the industry, sharing their knowledge, helping you out, giving you tips and tricks and pointers. That was fantastic. I’ve made some really great connections there, and people who I will stay in touch with. So that was incredibly valuable.