Nope, it's not a waste if you work as a medical underwriter. If work as a general insurance underwriter, that's lain cerita lah.

You see, when underwriting life/health insurance, we need to know a great deal about the basic science of the medical conditions as we read client's declaration, medical check-up report, lab report, MRI/Echocardiogram/X-ray/Ultrasound/ECG/EEG report, Dr's letter etc and assess the condition after gathering all these pieces of data.

However, graduating from biomed or other related bio courses only give us an advantage in learning the skills required in medical underwriting. Actually any Ali, Bala, Chong can become medical underwriter and excel in this field regardless of the courses taken in university. However, currently most companies will prefer those from bio-related background, easier to train as they are familiar with the terms/jargon used in medical reports.

No exams (as in getting license from governing body) required to become underwriter but most company will have internal exams/training before they give you authority to approve the contract/business on company behalf. That's why most insurance agent don't like underwriter. If underwriter say No, then they'll loose their business (together with their commission) but they always can appeal through their manager.

Still, it's up to individual preference whether this is a good job or not. Like bro yewkhuay is very successful in the day job and also in side business/MLM but some people don't like to do side business/MLM.

My stand is "you are free to choose but be prepare to bear the consequence". A man's meat is another man's poison (or is it the other way round?

General underwriter not so sure, sorry can't help you in this.

Agents need to take exams because they are governed by Bank Negara in order to protect the rights of customer, to prevent the customer from being cheated etc

Underwriter is hired mainly to safeguard the interest of the company. If we charge them more (meaning higher loadings) the customers have the rights not to buy from us and go to another company. Therefore whatever we do, won't harm the customers.

Haha... given enough time anyone also can both the medical term and the insurance terms. However, learning the medical terms is just the beginning. The next thing is to connect the different conditions together, correlate the clinical findings with the laboratory findings, client's medical history etc and decide. That's the hardest part and I'm still learning..haha.. Hence, medical underwriting is not an exact science as 1+1 doesn't equals to 2 here. It's more like a mixture of art and science. Sounds abstract eh?

for your information, basic salary for executive underwriter in prudential, without any experience, newly grad, is rm1900. depending on how fast you catch up during the probationary period (you have to attend classes), can be as fast as 3 months right up to 6 months. after confirm, it is increase to rm2100.

also, the reason why a biomed. graduates choose to work as an underwriter, it is because the job involves interpretation of medical results, usually the diagnostic part of it such as lab reports.

and in prudential, there are tests that one need to take before you can actually proceed to a higher level. everyday, you'll be given case studies to be solve. your performance during the probationary period is mostly depending on how well you solve the cases.

This post has been edited by LoveMeNot: Jun 3 2007, 09:24 PM

RM1900 is ok la. Depends on you spend it only. If you want to drive big car, dress from head to toe all branded stuff, buy expensive gift for your girls, go clubbing every weekends, go dating eat candle-light dinner every day, etc double that amount also not enough lah. I guess that's one problem with young people (including myself) nowadays. We only look into how much we earn but we don't care how much we spend. No wonder so many people "die" because of credit cards debts. IMHO, pay is important but not the only thing which is important. How much you spend is also important.
RM1900-2100 is pretty decent to me

hello guys..
i currently undergraduate from a private university college(will upgrade to university soon) taking Bachelor(hons) in Biomedicine and will graduate on 2009..
i kinda interested with the job, mainly becos the pay.. it is a very good pay for a fresh graduate compared to other courses. and i think if we work in the lab, the initial pay is around rm1.5k-1.8k...
can someone give some info to me the actual requirements for this position?
how much cgpa is required to get this position...and do we(biomedical graduates) face competition for this position from other courses?

biotech its better to go overseas to find work .....

Hi,
looks like this thread is almost dead as i can only see 2 person discussing on the life of being an underwriter.
I am also an underwriter myself and have been in the industry for 2yrs...and i can say that all the facts has been given by tatmeng and lovemenot but the part on the OT, bonus and salary side really depends on which company u r working for...my company is a bit stinggy on this aspect... :,( which causes me to work like a cow but still earning only peanuts...

Act i am an underwriter too. I agree wit u ahwai. d salary is low n need to do a lot of OT. yearly increment little onli. faint. wondering whether ur comp paying lower or my company......jus a bit curious, wat is ur comp paying for u/w position?

any1 here is doing underwriter in Kurnia?
how's the pay?
still rm1.9k?

I wonder after 2 years as an underwriter, after that you feel boring and want to change a new job, what other job you can choose?
I received an offer from an insurance company for this position, so i am abit worried now whether to accept the offer onot. sigh....
Coz, I still hope that I can get PhD degree.

hi people. it sounds interesting to be an underwriter... to be a writer i think they need to be really good at what they think and want to say through words. haha, i don't think i'm good enough to be one. anyway, i saw this writing job that really caught my attention! I log on to their site and it totally blew me away. but this company is in penang. maybe if u r still looking for a career in writing, u might be interested to check out the creative writer's position at www.studeografix.com/joinus and you’ll know what I mean - good luck

I think the writing u mention in the web is not similar to underwriter job.... jz my opinion.
Quite funny site

hi i'm a fresh grad with a degree in bioinformatics...kinda interested in underwriting...can somebody tell me wat's the difference between underwriter in an life insurance company and underwriter in life insurance company's service hub? are they doing the same thing? which one is better?thanks in advance^^

hihi~~
juz came bc to this forum n found someone replied to my post..
let's c...ur question was regarding the salary..currently for fresh grad is rm2100 frm what i heard...
i started working in this job 2yrs back and the starting pay was different...
the increment has been fixed basically so not much hope on getting a sudden increase in the basic salary..haha...
so which company u working in?

May i know who can gv comment on general insurance underwriter job?

I'm fresh graduate form biomed, still struggling whether want apply for underwriter job or not since my communication skills in English (written and spoken) not strong...

"Mei13", are yu a Univ graduate? With bad English proficiency? Hmmm...what really happened to our Education System?

Regards, Joey

Don't worry Mei13. You still can learn while you on the job.
As long u get the job and willing to learn, that's ok already. It means your employer have confidence in you.
Btw, may I know which company u want to apply? can reply through PM if u want to be "privacy"

I got 2 years working in Bank, do I qualify to become an underwriter?

er most likely they will put you at entry level medical underwriter. Unless you are planning to join as financial underwrite (non-insurance related financial company), then your 2-year experience should be enough.