After speaking to Tymen about his thesis-internship at MedScaler last June, we want to take you along in other internship possibilities MedScaler has to offer. Let’s talk with Tamir! Tamir is currently in the last year of his master Technical Medicine at TU Delft. Unlike Tymen, Tamir did not need to write his thesis at MedScaler. Alternatively, the scope of his internship was to gain work experience. Therefore, during Tamir’s internship he became part of the team as a fulltime Junior Health Innovator. Curious about what this entails? Read about his experiences in the interview we conducted with him in the sections below!
How did you get to know MedScaler and why did you decide to apply for an internship here?
MedScaler organized an in-house day to which I was invited through my study program. As part of my master, I need to do multiple internships of which most have been in the hospital. Besides the clinical application of MedTech, I am very much interested in the business side of these innovations. Therefore, I wanted to do one of my final internships outside of the hospital and decided to come to the MedScaler in-house day. When I arrived at the office, I bumped into a fellow student who was currently doing an internship here. She told me about the company, the projects she worked on and the things she had learned. From what she explained and from what I had heard during the in-house day, I became really excited to become an intern at MedScaler to gain experience in the health innovation business myself.
What did you expect to learn during your internship at MedScaler when you applied? And looking back, did it meet your expectations?
The in-house day gave me a great impression of some of the interesting innovations MedScaler has partnered with. I learned that MedScaler aims to bridge the gap between technological possibilities and their daily use in healthcare practice. Therefore, I knew that I would not be developing innovations myself during my time here, but would be helping existing innovations to find the right market to enter and getting them in touch with the right health care providers and distributors.
During the internship I expected that my main task would be talking with healthcare professionals to validate whether our client’s innovation would fit into their practice. However, in reality my tasks were more diverse than that. Report writing for example took up a substantial proportion of my time, I would estimate around 30%. In addition, I spent quite some time on reaching out to health care professionals, speaking to experts in the field and was involved with other company activities.
On what projects did you work during your time MedScaler and what other tasks were you involved with?
During my five months at MedScaler I worked on projects in three different countries. My first project consisted of validating whether an AI-tool that analyzes ECG’s for cardiac arrhythmias would fit into the Dutch market. In addition, I did an analysis of the US healthcare market to eventually validate whether automated follow-up calls would be of use to American healthcare practice. Lastly, I consulted experts and conducted research to figure out whether an AI tool that could analyze medical imaging would help German health care providers.
MedScaler works with different modules that each cover a different aspect of bringing a healthcare innovation to the market. To eventually deliver a report with our results to the client, I first needed to get an understanding of the healthcare system of the country they wanted to enter. Other tasks included reaching out to healthcare professionals, conducting interviews, performing desk research and writing the final report. What I really liked was that every project was different allowing me to learn a lot and to be continuously challenged. Besides doing work for clients, you get the opportunity to work on internal projects as well. For example, I assisted on sales calls and organized a reception for delegations from Singapore, Taiwan and Bali. Additionally, I was part of the Party Committee with whom I organized bi-weekly team activities.
What did you like most about your time at MedScaler?
MedScaler has a very open company culture. They include you in everything that goes on and really listen to your feedback. During my internship I found that I had more affinity with certain tasks than others. When I addressed this, I was allowed to shift my focus to the tasks that I felt I would learn most of and be best at. For instance, I really enjoyed conducting interviews with healthcare professionals and potential clients. Besides tailoring your tasks, it is always possible to explore new parts of the company such as Sales, Marketing or Business Development. Lastly, colleagues are always happy to help which greatly contributed to the overall pleasant working experience at MedScaler.
What was the main thing you learned during your internship at MedScaler?
As this was my first internship at a company that was not a hospital, I learned a lot about what company structures and what company management entails. Five months was too short to become an expert on each aspect of running a business. However, I gained a solid understanding of which factors to take into an account and where to find the required information if you were to start your own business. Furthermore, I learned many valuable skills, among which communicating with healthcare professionals, and working with management programs such as customer relationship management (CRM), Asana, Slack and Clockify. Additionally, through the different projects I worked on, I gained knowledge on how to bring your own MedTech innovation to the healthcare market and what barriers you might encounter.
What does the future hold for you after you leave MedScaler?
Later this year, I will start my final internship before acquiring my master diploma. During this last internship I will study the stimulation technique to combat traumatic spinal cord injury (tSCI). However, first, I will enjoy three months of traveling in South-East-Asia.
Has reading about Tamir’s experiences excited you to apply for an internship at MedScaler as well? Check out our vacancies, and you might become the next Junior Health Innovator starting their journey at MedScaler.
