Why did you choose King’s?
Being a Russell Group university, King’s was one of my top choices. I remember going to one of the Open Days. I went to quite a few for London universities, but I just got such a great feeling at King’s. Meeting the student ambassadors and hearing what graduates had gone on to do really inspired me.
I had heard great stories from friends that had been there – they’d graduated and secured fantastic jobs. I studied pharmacy after doing internships in Paris, which is where I went to school. For pharmacy, it’s a four-year course and your undergraduate and postgraduate studies are combined.
What was the teaching like on your course?
If you were having a lecture on the respiratory system or endocrine system or any other area, you knew you were being taught by an expert. We really got the latest updates on new medicines, therapies and thinking. Listening to people that had dedicated their career to a certain area was incredible. Their passion certainly brushes off on their students.
A lot of the teaching team are on the front-line supporting patients, so they know how things work in the hospitals. I don’t think this is something all pharmacy courses have – their up-to-date clinical knowledge really made all the difference.
Did you have the chance to explore your own interests?
In your final year, you have the chance to pick some of the modules you study. For example, I picked a module on chemical mediators of disease, which was taught with biomedical students. I also carried out my thesis on traditional Chinese medicine working with a PhD student to quantify similarities and analyse the varying amounts of active ingredients. It was really challenging but prepared me for what I do now, which involves machine learning.
Being given this freedom helped all of us decide what area we wanted to go into after graduating. Whether that was retail pharmacy, supporting the community, going into industry or working in a hospital.
What opportunities did you have at King’s?
The great thing about King’s is the strong links to the hospitals. And the lab facilities are excellent too. We always had the space and analytical tools we needed. One summer, I helped a PhD student with her research on nanoparticle technology. The equipment we used was really impressive.
In our final year, we had the opportunity to shadow senior pharmacists at Guys and St Thomas’. We would see a patient with them, take their whole medical history and see what had been prescribed, as well as doing any follow up. This meant that once we started working, we were familiar with how everything worked and the right questions to ask.
I was fortunate enough to get a place for my pre-registration year at Guys and St Thomas’ too. Looking back, this was the highlight of my education at King’s. It was a steep learning curve, but we got to rotate through different areas, such as the cardiac ward, gastroenterology and medical information centre.
What was your life like after graduating from King’s?
I finished my pre-registration year then I went on to King’s College Hospital residency programme. But I left just before a year. I started to experience a growing frustration with the hospital software systems.
I became very interested in medicine adherence too. This means helping people understand why they need to take their medication, whether they forget, don’t know why they need to take it or suffer side effects. This coupled with hospital systems, I just felt there was a better solution to help clinicians do their jobs more safely and support patients more effectively.
One day I woke up, I handed in my notice and quit hospital pharmacy. I started working for the company that makes the software for healthcare. I went out to the HQ in the US and learnt about software. Back in the UK, I started to work as a senior analyst within different NHS trusts to implement the software.
I learnt how to work with clinicians and hospital leadership teams. I helped build systems and optimise their workflows with the help of technology. My education from King’s helped me use my initiative and find my feet.
And what are you doing now?
I made the decision to transition into the start-up world in health tech. I’ve worked for a US company in digestive health – I helped grow the business from the ground up until they were generating revenue. Now I work in product management, and I’m certified to oversee the whole product lifecycle. I still apply the skills I learnt at King’s, such as how to find information, but now I use those skills to create technology.
This year I’ve co-found a company in women’s health in Greece and the US. Healthcare is highly male-dominated and there’s much more information on how diseases and drugs affect them. Women’s healthcare has been side-lined, and I want to start tackling this. It all links back to pharmacy too as we need to think about areas like contraception and hormone therapies.
How has your clinical knowledge supported your career?
Because I’ve found my niche, I’ve got one foot in healthcare and the other in tech. I’m able to distil science for business leaders who are making the big decisions. Being able to communicate with different types of people and using what I’ve learnt at King’s has been key for me.
I take my clinical knowledge and apply it to technology, which is one of the leading industries. Technology is everywhere – we’re all connected. I believe there is so much good that can be done for healthcare.
Do you have any advice for postgraduate students?
I would say having an appreciation for tech is key, whatever you’re studying. You don’t need to understand it fully but look for opportunities in your industry. The tech world isn’t stable but sometimes you need to take a risk in order to be successful and make an impact.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Interested in studying a postgraduate course? Find out more about our next Postgraduate Virtual Open Week and discover what it’s like to study at King’s and how to apply.