They both have to follow a strict guidelines but I believe there are more challenges in doing project management for medical devices compared to project management for building a school or skyscraper. Schools and skyscrapers have limited risks that can be avoided such as how much force or weight the building can handle. There are more civil engineers, construction workers, and architecture while for medical devices, there are more biology and chemical engineers, material scientists, and researchers. Medical devices deal more with how the body works, the bodily functions, and how it could change instantaneously. These devices also have to account for the difference in people, how they can react to different people and how they can work for everyone. There are more obstacles to work around for medical devices.

Also, project management in schools and skyscrapers have more of an opportunity to build such projects because they occur very often. There are so many schools and skyscrapers already built that it becomes easier for these designs to be approved. For medical devices, the field is still expanding and since it deals with people in an internal and anatomical level, it is harder to have these projects and designs approved. You deal with muscles, cells, organs, different body parts, etc., while schools and skyscrapers are dealt with people on an external level because it surrounds people and gives them shelter.

Medical device projects also have many teams that all need to work together and consult one another to make sure the device actually works but when it comes to project management for buildings, one team designs the building, gives it to another team to approve it, and then eventually gives it to construction works to start building these buildings. FDA is also a huge difference between the two stated by many other people above. FDA will check in on you at any point in time to make sure you’re following procedures and regulations. They will be very strict and question everything to make sure every process is done correctly.