How I Got into HealthTech as a Life Sciences Student

Posted on: 5 January 2023 by Samantha Riella in Graduate stories

Lucky Ali, works in Clinical Innovation at Blüm Health. In this article she shares her journey of getting into HealthTech as a Life Sciences student.

As a non-medical student or a student of computer science or engineering, navigating through the HealthTech space has been challenging for me. Most of the HealthTech internships had specific requirements and preferred degrees being in medicine, dentistry or computer science. I've always been passionate about medicine and healthcare, and I was eager to get involved in tech, so HealthTech was an excellent field for me to thrive in. As the process to break into the sector became tougher, my willingness to understand the new frontiers of the HealthTech ecosystem grew even more.

I took every opportunity presented to me and started building my portfolio. I searched and applied for internships via Handshake, our university’s careers platform and by visiting every possible external university website during winter breaks as the majority of the internships had a January/February deadline. As a result, every summer since beginning university I got the opportunity to do several work experiences and internships. Through this I was lucky to have the opportunity to undertake multiple fully funded medical research internships with various universities including University of Oxford, St George’s University of London and University of Liverpool. Although my internships weren’t related to HealthTech, I was able to gain valuable research skills, enterprising skills and insights into medicine and healthcare that have shaped my career goals. Sometimes we may be so focused on our goal that we may disregard certain opportunities, thinking they are irrelevant to where we want to go, but every little step you take builds up momentum.

I have always believed that what you seek is seeking you. From our university's enterprise online community, I learned that a group of final year medical students are setting up a spoke (aka branch) of the National MedTech Foundation in Liverpool, and they aim to bring specialist speakers who have founded their own HealthTech start-ups. I attended every talk and was greatly inspired by their start-up journeys. I connected and followed-up with the speakers on LinkedIn. Being proactive and showing your interest makes you stand out. I found out one of the start-ups was offering a part-time Digital Health Innovation internship through our university’s Liverpool Interns programme. I was inspired by their mission as it aligned with my vision and drive to enhance healthcare through digital health solutions. While I didn’t meet their degree preference, I was confident I could demonstrate the key skills and attributes highlighted in the project requirements. I messaged the founder on LinkedIn before applying, and was encouraged to apply. Following my application, I received an interview offer, and here I am today sharing my journey with you!

Being part of a HealthTech start-up is an experience like no other. I was welcomed so warmly by the team and learned about the exciting projects they were working on. During my internship I worked with the founders and the clinical interns’ team. Through supported learning, I was supporting the ideation, design, market research, business planning and strategizing of a highly impactful project which is currently in the commercialisation phase. My role involved leveraging clinical knowledge and insights to build and test digital solutions for the next generation of NHS hospitals. I learned in-depth about the Digital Technology Assessment Criteria (DTAC) and how to make the digital solution NHS-ready and DTAC-compliant.

Having studied a wide range of disciplines in my degree, along with experiences gained from previous internships and extracurricular activities helped me bridge the gap between clinical care and technology. I’ve been actively engaged with the software/tech team to learn more about software development, simulation, testing and deployment. I was amazed at how much I learned and gained experience during my internship.

Following my internship, I was delighted to be offered a part-time position. I couldn’t be more grateful and excited as I absolutely love what I do and couldn’t ask for a better team who inspire me, believe in me and support me to achieve greater heights. Now I work with both teams to map out digital health solutions, create clinical UI and UX design, implement market research and user feedback. I also work with software such as Figma and Jira for design and project management.

Every tiny improvement you make compounds over time and every challenge prepares you for the next step. As I look back, I can truly understand that every opportunity I said yes to and everything I have been learning was preparing me for what I am doing today and anything I set out to do in the future. So, if you’re considering going into HealthTech, then go for it!