Why I'm teaching the next generation of clinicians in health tech

In partnership with

Hey Health Techies!

One of my favorite parts of the work I do through Hey Health Tech is getting to help clinicians see just how many possibilities exist beyond traditional clinical roles.

That's also why teaching as part of the faculty at BiteLabs has been such a meaningful experience for me. Each cohort is an opportunity to introduce healthcare professionals to the world of digital health, help them connect their clinical expertise to new opportunities, and encourage them to think differently about how healthcare problems get solved.

In this week's issue, I'm taking you behind the scenes of my work with BiteLabs, sharing what I teach about career opportunities and product thinking, and explaining why I believe we need more clinicians helping shape the future of healthcare.

Let's get into it!

Why I'm teaching the next generation of clinicians in health tech

And why I believe more clinicians need to understand product thinking, whether or not they ever become product managers.

When I first made the transition from clinical pharmacy into health tech, I had no idea just how many opportunities existed for clinicians outside of traditional patient care.

I knew I wanted to do something different. I knew I had skills that could translate beyond the retail pharmacy counter, but I didn't fully understand the landscape of digital health or all the ways my clinical experience could be valuable.

Over the years, I've had the opportunity to work in product and program management roles at companies like PillPack, Amazon Pharmacy, and other companies both big and small. I've seen firsthand how much of an impact clinicians can make when they're involved in building the products, services, and systems that shape healthcare.

It's a big part of why I started Hey Health Tech.

And it's also why I'm so excited to be part of the faculty at BiteLabs, where I teach clinicians and other healthcare professionals about opportunities in digital health and product thinking.

If you haven't heard of BiteLabs, it's an organization focused on helping healthcare professionals build the skills, knowledge, and connections to pursue careers in digital health, AI, and innovation.

Through its eight-week Digital Health, AI & Innovation Fellowship, participants get exposure to the different sides of building and bringing healthcare technology to market.

We're talking about everything from clinical product management and artificial intelligence to healthcare regulation, commercialization, and entrepreneurship.

What I appreciate about the program is that it goes beyond simply telling clinicians that opportunities exist.

It helps them understand how the industry actually works, introduces them to people working in the space, and gives them the opportunity to apply what they're learning, culminating in a portfolio project and demo day at the end of the experience.

And the outcomes are worth paying attention to.

According to BiteLabs, 60% of its alumni worldwide are now working in the digital health space as employees, founders, and consultants.

That's a meaningful statistic in an industry that can sometimes feel difficult to break into, particularly for people who have spent most of their careers in clinical environments.

It reinforces something I talk about often: clinicians don't necessarily need to start their careers over to move into health tech. They need to understand how the experience they already have applies to a different environment.

Over the past year or so, I have had the opportunity to teach clinicians in the US cohorts as a member of the BiteLabs faculty, most recently just a couple of weeks ago. It’s always so amazing to help kick off the cohort and hear healthcare professionals from all backgrounds and specialities absolutely buzzing about what thed them there, what they’re hoping to get out of the experience, and what impact the hope to have on the innovation side of healthcare.

My workshop focuses on two topics that I believe are foundational for clinicians exploring health tech careers.

The first is understanding the opportunities available to them in the space.

When people think about careers in health tech, they often jump straight to a couple of job titles: clinical informatics or perhaps a medical advisor role.

But the landscape is so much broader.

There are opportunities in implementation, customer success, clinical operations, strategy, clinical safety, business development, product, and more.

And there's no single path that every clinician needs to follow.

Someone who loves improving workflows might thrive in operations or implementation. Someone who enjoys solving complex problems and working across teams might be drawn to product management. Someone who loves translating clinical concepts into understandable information might find opportunities in education, partnerships, or customer-facing roles.

Part of what I want fellows to take away from my session is that their clinical background isn't a limitation they need to overcome. It's an asset they need to learn how to position.

The second part of my session introduces product thinking, something I’d love to dive deeper into here in the newsletter if there is interest.

When I talk about product thinking, I'm not suggesting that every clinician needs to become a product manager.

I'm talking about developing a pretty specific way of approaching problems.

Clinicians are trained to assess situations, gather information, make decisions, and solve problems. We do this every single day.

And in product development, the questions aren’t fundamentally different but the frameworks and implementation are slightly different.

Instead of immediately asking, "How do we solve this problem?" we might start with:

These questions are at the heart of product thinking.

And they're incredibly valuable in healthcare, where even the most innovative technology can fail if it doesn't fit the realities of clinical practice.

I've seen what happens when healthcare technology is built without a deep understanding of the people who will actually use it.

Products can be technically impressive and still create more work for clinicians, introduce unnecessary complexity, or fail to address the problems they were intended to solve.

That's why clinical perspectives are so important.

But there's another piece to this.

It's not enough for clinicians to simply be invited to provide feedback on a product that's already been built.

We need more clinicians who understand how to participate in the decisions that shape what gets built in the first place. That requires being able to think beyond an individual clinical encounter and consider the broader needs of users, organizations, and the healthcare system.

And the good news is that clinicians already have a strong foundation for doing this.

One of the things I find most rewarding about teaching is watching people begin to connect the dots between what they've done clinically and what they could do in technology.

Sometimes the biggest hurdle isn't learning a completely new skill.

It's realizing that the experience you've spent years developing has value in places you may never have considered.

I wish I'd understood that earlier in my own career.

When I started exploring opportunities outside of pharmacy, I didn't have a clear roadmap. I had to learn the language of the industry, understand unfamiliar job functions, and figure out how to communicate the value of my experience.

Now, I hope I can help other clinicians make those connections much earlier.

And there's something especially exciting about doing that in a setting like BiteLabs, where fellows are learning alongside other healthcare professionals who are equally curious about what's possible.

They're learning to see themselves as people who can help build, improve, and lead the next generation of healthcare solutions and apply those skills in real time. I don’t see many other experiences like this outside of hackathons, which tend to be great at the application of skills but not so much the teaching portion.

We're at an interesting point in healthcare.

AI is changing how we think about clinical workflows. Digital tools are reshaping how patients access care. Startups and established healthcare organizations are experimenting with new models of care delivery.

But technology alone isn't going to solve healthcare's challenges.

We need people who understand the complexity of healthcare and can help turn innovative ideas into solutions that actually work instead of meaningless productivity gains.

That includes clinicians who stay in traditional clinical roles, clinicians who move into health tech, and those who find ways to work across both worlds.

The more clinicians understand how technology is developed, evaluated, and implemented, the more influence we can have on the future of healthcare. And after 12 years working in health tech, I still don’t see enough clinical representation on this side of the industry.

And that's ultimately why this work matters to me.

Whether I'm teaching a BiteLabs cohort, interviewing a clinician who has transitioned into tech, or sharing career resources through Hey Health Tech, the goal is the same:

To help clinicians recognize that their expertise can have an impact far beyond the walls of a hospital, clinic, or pharmacy.

Your clinical training is part of your professional foundation. It doesn't have to define the boundaries of your career.

And if you're curious about the opportunities available in digital health, you don't have to wait until you're ready to make a career change to start learning.

Start paying attention to the companies solving problems you care about. Get curious about how their products work. Think about the problems you've encountered in your own clinical practice and how you might approach solving them differently.

You may discover that you're already doing a bit more product thinking than you realize.

Interested in learning more about BiteLabs?

You can explore the Digital Health, AI & Innovation Fellowship and learn more about how the program helps healthcare professionals develop skills and connections in the industry. A new cohort just started. The Spring 2027 cohort starts March 4.

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Until next time,

Lauren

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