Many within the health data science technical community have long felt that the term “technician” does not fully reflect the breadth and depth of their roles and expertise. 

As signatories of the The Technician Commitment and fully committed to its Action Plan, HDR UK felt it was essential to consult the community and ensure that the language used to describe technical roles is truly representative of their contributions to health data science.

The HDR UK Technician Commitment Working Group therefore carried out a survey to better understand the technical community’s preferences regarding the terminology used to describe technical roles in health data science.

This survey showed that the majority of respondents:

  • do not feel positively about the term technician, and
  • believe terms used to describe their role do have an influence on their career progression.

Key actions from the survey are to replace the term “technologist” with the preferred “technical specialist” wherever possible, and to share the survey findings with the technical community through newsletters and other relevant communications.

Read the complete survey report here.