Latest / The Career Change Podcast with Fexingo: Switching Fields, Bootcamps, and Reskilling / How Bootcamp Grads Can Break Into Health Tech
Transcript
- Lucas: So by mid-2026, health tech has quietly become one of the hottest landing spots for coding bootcamp grads. I was looking at some numbers from industry surveys — employment in digital health grew about 20% year-over-year in 2025, and a meaningful chunk of that hiring is coming from junior developers. Luna: I've noticed that too. A friend of mine finished a bootcamp in 2023 and just got a job at a company that builds electronic health record systems. She says her bootcamp actually prepared her better for the tech side than she expected, but the healthcare-specific stuff was totally new. Lucas: Right, and that's the key tension. Bootcamps teach you to build web apps, but health tech is a heavily regulated space. You need to learn HIPAA compliance — that's the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act — and interoperability standards like FHIR, which stands for Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources. Luna: Exactly. So if a bootcamp grad wants to break in, they can't just rely on their generic projects. They need to show they understand the constraints. How do you even start? Lucas: Let's use a concrete example. Say you're a web developer who's built a few React apps. To pivot into health tech, you could build a mock patient portal that demonstrates you know how to handle protected health information. You wouldn't use real data, but you'd show that you understand role-based access control and audit logging. Luna: That makes sense. And then you'd put that on GitHub and mention HIPAA compliance concepts in the README. Lucas: Exactly. Now, the biggest employers in this space — Epic Systems and Cerner — both have formal bootcamp pipelines. Epic, based in Wisconsin, has hired hundreds of bootcamp grads over the past few years. They have a dedicated bootcamp training program that gets you up to speed on their proprietary MUMPS language. Luna: MUMPS — that's an old language, right? I've heard it's basically only used in healthcare. Lucas: Yeah, it's from the 1960s, but it's still the backbone of most large hospital systems. Learning it is actually a huge differentiator because there's very little competition from traditional CS grads. Bootcamp grads who pick up MUMPS can become incredibly valuable. Luna: So the strategy is: pick a domain within health tech — like EHRs, telemedicine, or health insurance portals — and then tailor your learning and portfolio to that. Lucas: Exactly. And don't overlook certifications. There's a Certified Professional in Healthcare Information and Management Systems — CPHIMS — that a lot of employers like to see. It's not required for junior roles, but it shows commitment. Luna: We should talk about the interview process too. I imagine they ask a lot of situational questions about data privacy. Lucas: They do. For example, they might ask: 'If a nurse accesses a patient record without authorization, how would your system detect it?' So you need to think about audit trails, anomaly detection, and least-privilege access. A bootcamp grad who's done a side project with role-based access control can answer that confidently. Luna: And that's the kind of thing that makes a candidate stand out from someone who just has a generic React app. Lucas: Yeah. Now, a quick note — if you've gotten value from these episodes, we want to keep them ad-free and accessible. A couple of dollars a month genuinely makes a difference. You can support the show at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It helps us keep doing deep dives like this. Luna: Totally. Whether you're considering a career change or just figuring out your next step, we want this to be a resource that's always free. Lucas: So back to the practical side — networking in health tech is also different. There are specific conferences like HIMSS that are huge for jobs. If you can't afford the ticket, they often have virtual passes or local chapter meetups. Luna: And LinkedIn groups. There's one called 'Health IT Professionals' that regularly posts job openings for junior devs. Lucas: Right. Another angle: many health tech startups are less strict about credentials than the big EHR vendors. If you can show you've built a telehealth feature with video capabilities and encrypted communication, you're a strong candidate. Luna: So what's a realistic timeline for a bootcamp grad to land their first health tech role? Lucas: From what I've seen, it takes about three to six months of focused effort after bootcamp, including building that tailored portfolio and maybe doing a small freelance project for a local clinic. The first role might be at a small startup, but after a year you can move to the bigger players. Luna: And the salary? I've heard it's comparable to other tech roles, maybe slightly lower at entry level because of the learning curve. Lucas: Yeah, entry-level health tech developers in 2026 are seeing salaries around $70,000 to $85,000 in the US, but with two years of experience that jumps to over $100,000. The trade-off is the work is often more mission-driven — you're directly impacting patient care. Luna: That's a huge draw. I think a lot of bootcamp grads want to feel their code matters beyond just revenue. Lucas: Exactly. And health tech gives you that. But you have to be prepared for slower release cycles because of regulatory requirements. You can't just ship every day like at a consumer startup. Luna: So patience is a virtue. Is there a specific bootcamp you'd recommend for this track? Lucas: There are a few that have health tech tracks — like Fullstack Academy has a partnership with some hospital systems. But honestly, a good generalist bootcamp is fine if you do the extra work on HIPAA and FHIR on your own. Luna: And one last tip: contribute to open source health tech projects. OpenEMR and OpenMRS are both active and looking for contributors. Lucas: That's a great point. It gives you real code experience and a network. Plus it shows you can work with legacy codebases, which is a big part of health tech. Luna: All right, so to recap: build a portfolio project that simulates a real health tech product, learn the regulations, get involved in the community, and target both startups and established EHR vendors. Lucas: Exactly. And remember, the demand isn't going away. As of July 2026, hospitals are still digitizing and the interoperability push is huge. Bootcamp grads who lean into this now will have a solid career path. Luna: I'm convinced. I might even look into it myself! Lucas: No time like the present. Thanks for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.