Career options for clinicians outside the NHS — Dr David Rawaf

At BiteLabs, we teach healthcare professionals the skills required to build impactful careers in healthtech. We’re profiling some of the amazing clinicians who already work in the field. In this article, we explore the career paths and advice from another healthcare professional who plays multiple roles. Dr David Rawaf takes dual roles as the Clinical Excellence Lead at Inovus Medical and an orthopaedic surgeon in clinical practice. 

(Note that the contents of the interview have been slightly edited)

Tell us more about your role in healthtech. 

I serve as a clinical excellence lead. Being the only qualified surgeon in the company, it is as close as possible to chief medical officer (CMO) as can be within this start-up/scale-up environment.

How and why did you get into it?

There are numerous push and pull factors. In terms of pull factors: 

• Interest in innovation (both hardware and software)
• Compatibility with the healthtech space: I had applied to the Clinical Entrepreneur Scheme and met Elliot Street on one of the pit-stops. At that point I found he had a job opening and I applied through the ‘front’ door & we instantly clicked. 
• Overlap between skills and knowledge I wanted to develop and those involved in software & hardware development 

Push factor mainly involved the inability to explore my interest in innovation, which was suppressed through study, work as a doctor / surgeon and the general resistance to change within the NHS. 

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

I can think of 3 main differences: 

1. Greater impact in healthtech despite lesser direct patient contact: I know that through the surgical simulation modules I have developed, I can leave a lasting impact on surgical trainees which in turn will help countless patients.
2. Better culture: culture at Inovus really does make you feel valued as a human being rather than as a ‘cog’ in the system.
3. Variability in work-life balance: there are times in the year where I can easily work a 20 hour day and am less exhausted than a 13 hour Orthopaedic on-call. 

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

At Inovus, we build surgical simulators. Inovus needed someone to validate / accredit and expand the range of modules and simulators with anatomic accuracy. As an MRCS-positive surgeon, keen anatomist, closet engineer and a prolific academic, this was perfect for me!

How could someone go about getting into your field?

Join our internship programme!

Tell us more about the internship program at Inovus. 

Our internship program is expenses-covered only, but we will — once we have clinical roles available — be aiming to look to our interns as potential talent to fulfil these roles. At this stage, think about what you can learn rather than what you can earn; as you grow the capital will follow.

Anything else you’d like to add?

Joining the health-tech industry is getting more and more difficult as we see more clinicians ‘jumping-ship’. My best advice is: 

1. Focus on the pull factors
2. Reflect on your core values.

We hope that Dr. Rawaf’s journey to healthtech and tips have been useful. 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.

If you’re looking to start your journey in healthtech, visit bitelabs.io to sign up to our next cohort.