Career options for clinicians outside the NHS — Dr Alice McGee

At BiteLabs, we teach healthcare professionals the skills required to build impactful healthtech products. Previously, we had shared the experiences and advice from 4 other individuals who had transitioned from healthcare to healthtech. In this piece, we are summarising an interview with Dr. Alice McGee, who currently serves as a healthtech advisor, having previously trained as a doctor. 

What is your role?

I currently serve as the medical/ clinical advisor for a number of different start-ups and companies, as part of a healthcare consulting company that I set up. The companies I serve as an advisor for, typically specialise in women’s health, femtech, medical writing and medical education services. I advise on the company’s product, app development and content.

How and why did you get into it?

I became disillusioned with clinical Medicine early in 2022. My main ‘push-factors’ were: 

• Decreased enjoyment
• Lack of potential for growth: I felt that my main challenges daily were dealing with dissatisfied patients and waiting lists

Since I wanted to work on something that I enjoyed, that constantly challenged me, and encouraged me to develop new skills, I started looking for suitable opportunities outside of clinical medicine. I did my research, reflected, and then I discovered some other people who were on similar journeys on LinkedIn and I just went for it!

​​How does your current role compare to your clinical career? (Enjoyment, perks, work life balance etc)

I can point out 5 main differences between my job as a doctor and my current role in healthtech: 

1. Greater satisfaction daily
2. More interesting work schedule: Each week brings something new and different
3. Development of new skills: I have developed and honed my skills in consulting, digital marketing, pitching, speaking to clients, and running a business (among many others)
4. Improved work-life balance 
5. Greater flexibility: I can work remotely, and have greater control of my schedule now

How is it related to medicine/nursing/pharmacy etc — why were you suitable?

The knowledge and experience I gained from engaging in women’s health research, my medical degree and clinical practice were (and are) important in (1) demonstrating my competency and credibility to serve as a clinical advisor to the start-ups, and (2) forming an important part of the advice I give to start-ups.

How could someone go about getting into your field?

I have 2 main tips on getting started: 

1. Find your niche or unique selling point (USP) and work on it so that you have a good level of experience or education in that space. 
2. Establish connections/ contacts with companies or founders in the space that interests you. Leverage these connections for opportunities.

What can I earn?

This definitely depends on experience. Early jobs might be unpaid/ voluntary while serving crucially to build experience and connections. These early opportunities might lead to other paid, sustainable opportunities. In terms of numbers, consulting rates can start from about £20-£30/hour up to rates of over £200/hour depending on the level of experience you have!

Anything else you’d like to add?

I would strongly recommend everyone in a clinical role to nurture another interest in their career (assuming they want to). In my experience, having my own interest aside from clinical medicine has made me a lot more satisfied and a better clinician. The skills you develop in different roles (such as education, research, digital health) are always transferrable to clinical medicine, and vice versa. 

We hope that Dr. McGee’s experience and tips help those of us who are hoping to take roles outside of clinical practice. To hear from other individuals who have made similar career changes, check out Mr. Scott’s, Ms. Frost’s paths! If you’re a clinician (current or former) doing something interesting outside of a traditional career — please get in touch! We’d love to feature you in our next blog article.

If you’re looking to start your journey in healthtech, visit bitelabs.io to check out the latest cohorts! 

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