A bit off topic, but I have been doing medical startups for 10 years now and can provide a little insight into your questions.<p>Directly helping people with technology is extremely satisfying and I would definitely recommend it as a career.
That said, it is not an easy career. You have to be patient. Getting a new device from concept to even human trials (much less market approval) can take 2-4 years and depending on the complexity. You have to be diligent and tireless. The complexity and amount of paperwork to meet regulatory compliance requirements would shock you. The current product I am working on has about 15,000 pages of documentation, test reports, etc. Nothing extra above the regulatory requirements is included in this number.<p>In the end, my opinion is that the direct difference you can make in peoples lives in the healthcare industry outweighs the difficulties.