Name of Student: Zain Ahmad
Degree Subject: Medicine BMBS
Job Title: PR & Comms Intern
Company Name: Oxford Heartbeat
Type of Internship: Access to Internships (A2I)
What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?
– producing written material for company website, including blogs, and articles
– interviewed staff for a “Day in the Life” series on the website
– produced long form social media posts for LinkedIn and Twitter
– conducted market research for medical devices in the US and EU
What was your biggest achievement on your internship?
I produced a market research report on stenting across the UK and US markets
Were there any challenges and how did you overcome these?
Challenge was adapting to a non-healthcare environment and developing my commercial understanding
Skills Learnt:
- Teamwork and Collaboration
- Communication
- Focus on Goals and Outcomes
Attributes Developed:
- Commercial Awareness
- Confidence
- Initiative
- Professionalism
Your message to other students considering a similar job role, organisation or sector?
Working for Oxford Heartbeat was an amazing experience and I am grateful that I was able to work with such a great start-up team. I was impressed at how qualified the staff were, and for me this created lots of opportunities to learn. I’d be speaking to the business development manager with a Biomedical PhD background in one moment, and then talk to a developer with a PhD in Machine Learning!
I learnt a lot about commercialising Medical Device products in the NHS, and this is a perspective I would not have gained in my normal degree programme. I’d encourage anyone interested in healthcare and tech to pursue a start-up internship. My only complaint was that I could only work for one month!