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by Himmi Kari
I’ve been to a fair few healthtech events this year. From the multi-day conferences at the Excel, to meetings at the Crick, the talks have been interesting and the crowds impressive. However, for a personal touch and a feeling of connection, One HealthTech’s November ‘Shift’ event has the others beat.
In the cosy Farringdon offices of Coulter Partners, a leadership consultancy firm, the OHT London team hosted a night focused on career changes, encouraging 40 lucky ticketholders to make brave steps in healthtech. The audience—professionals from backgrounds as diverse as clinical medicine to civil service—were in the right place to embrace the possibility of “wiggly careers,” whether they arrived nervous or curious or a bit of both.
After the warm, signature One Healthtech welcome, the three-part event began with a panel discussion featuring industry leaders who had made their own career shifts.
Under the thoughtful moderation of Coulter Partners’ Hafsah Bhatti, DrDoctor’s Stephanie Riley shared her compelling journey from ITU nurse to Senior Product Manager at the patient engagement platform. Riley explained her motivation to shift—she couldn’t envision herself in the NHS a decade later—and offered practical advice for gaining work experience and landing jobs (including the bold suggestion to cold call!). For those interested in following a similar path, she emphasized how her ongoing nursing work provided valuable tactical insights and clinical expertise in her commercial role.
Offering a multifaceted insight into her roles as startup founder, academic, and scientist, Dr Isabel van de Keere analyzed the current jobs market and shared her top tips for digital innovation (“AI optimizing admin is where it’s at”). Like Riley, van de Keere emphasized the importance of human relationships in the success of tech ventures and provided valuable resources, including key sites and newsletters, for job seekers.
Completing the panel, Peter Huang of Healthtech 1, gave the early-stage entrepreneurial perspective from his role as co-founder and head of product at the digital admin startup. Openly discussing his personal journey (encouraging parents and self-belief are a golden combination), Huang outlined the challenges he faces working with the dated digital systems of the NHS and sceptical clinicians. From this stimulating discussion, the event shifted to one of the other highlights of the night.
After outlining her own wiggly resume, careers coach Dina al-Alami took the audience through a coaching workout of their own. Particularly enlightening was the ‘5 Whys Exercise,’ a Droste effect experiment, where you keep asking yourself ‘why’ until you’ve reached an answer. After briefly opening the door to personal reflection, audience members were happy to hear Dina hinting at more coaching sessions in the next two events in the OHT careers series.
The evening concluded with refreshments, networking, and a memorable open mic session where attendees had 10 seconds each to share their thoughts. In what became the night’s most candid moment, seven people took turns wielding an inflatable hammer—a playful substitute for a microphone—to voice their hopes for guidance, direction, and community as they contemplated their career transitions.While immediate job offers weren’t guaranteed, One HealthTech clearly provides an ideal supportive environment for those entering the health tech world. The evening exemplified warmth and encouragement, with conversations continuing until the very end. With two more career-focused events planned for early next year, OHT is expanding its career development offerings and maintaining this valuable dialogue.
Though 2025 has barely begun, if future OHT London events match the success of Shift 1.0, they’ll set a high bar for the rest of the healthtech calendar—truly a chance to explore change.
Shift 1.0 was organised by...
Please do get in touch with any questions or if you’d like to help with the next Shift events.