Student Interns: Polina — working in Healthtech because it matters.
Polina is a 5th year Commerce (Finance)/Biomedical Engineering student at the University of Sydney, who’s been interning at HealthMatch for the past year. We asked Polina a couple of questions regarding her experience and key takeaways from her time in the start-up space.
HealthMatch is a health tech startup working to accelerate the recruitment of patients to clinical trials across more than 250 medical conditions.
What sparked your interest in entrepreneurship and how did you find yourself at HealthMatch?
“Successful entrepreneurship requires determination, adaptability, and great people. The smallest teams can move mountains if they are made of talented and driven individuals who are always willing to take on challenges, no matter who they are.”
As part of my journey through high-school and university, I found myself excited to develop these qualities. I started to volunteer for student societies, taking on roles that put me outside my comfort zone and chose challenging subjects.
At a conference organised by Singularity University, I started to think of platforms for people who have rare and widespread healthcare conditions and how they could be connected, helped and guided on their journey through diagnosis and treatment. Shortly after, I started researching what platforms existed and stumbled upon HealthMatch. Although different to my initial ideas, the startup focused on improving access to clinical trials for patients, an area in desperate need of innovation with over 80% of clinical trials failing to meet their patient recruitment targets.
I added the founder on LinkedIn, went to events she was attending, spent time getting to know members in the team and shared my story with them. This was critical in helping me land the role!
Tell us about your role at HealthMatch. Could you share any key learnings from your experience so far?
I started at HealthMatch when it was a team of 5 in 2019. My versatile role allowed me to focus on objectives and projects across Patient Success, Growth Marketing and Operations. Here are some things I’ve learned:
- Efficiency is key. You don’t have enough time to do everything, so I learnt to ruthlessly prioritise my tasks based on what made the greatest impact in the short and long term.
- Every decision is critical. Weigh in wherever you can and make sure you are keeping an open mind when it comes to setting up the business for scalability and success.
- Be proactive and keep asking questions. Active learning happens when you are quietly listening and absorbing what’s going on around you.
- Demonstrate humility. No task is too big or small — you can learn and find insights in each task.
- You may not be the smartest person in the room, but you can get the smartest people in the room. When you feel out of your depth, try to network and find out who may be able to offer you the ‘expert advice’ that you can build on.
These key learnings came from multiple projects, experiences and companies, so keep your eyes open and look for a lesson in everything you do.
What do you see yourself achieving in 5 years?
In 5 years, I want to have achieved my version of success: happy, confident and leading with a mission. Working on these goals holistically is a surefire way to ensure that if one target or aspect of your life isn’t working out, it doesn’t mean everything is going downhill.
I took the time last year to set goals in different categories, here are mine:
- Health: to be more active and learn how to be proud of my body
- Wealth: setting a savings goal and learning how to invest effectively
- Personal development: covers all things career, university and self-directed learning. In the next five years, I want to pursue further study in Biomedical Engineering and am considering all different career options — big or small, at home or abroad.
- Social life: give myself the time and space to nurture my connections with my closest friends
While I haven’t got it all figured out, I believe that we should always search for opportunities and be willing to take on the challenges that present the best opportunities to learn.
Why do you think students should get involved in the startup space? And for those interested, do you have any tips, tools or resources?
“Startups offer flexibility and the opportunity to learn a variety of soft skills very quickly. Each person and their contribution are crucial, so working in a start-up can be much more hands on than other roles available to students.”
Students should get involved in any experience they can get their hands on as early as possible.
Q. Will one extra year of uni make you more qualified to apply for that internship?
A. I’ll save you some time and tell you that no. So, write that CV and hit apply.
Startups offer flexibility and the opportunity to learn rapidly. In smaller teams, each person and their contribution are crucial, so you’ll inherently be more dedicated to your role as you’re solely responsible for the results you drive.
The calibre of people that you meet at startups can be incredibly inspiring. There are people who haven’t finished university yet become experts in their field, people that work on side hustle projects regularly, who self-educate constantly and keep on top of the latest news, books, documentaries and whatever else. I truly believe that being around great people makes you think bigger every day.
Maybe this is the cheesiest of all, but I think its insanely cool to be able to say that you helped create something impactful from the beginning. You didn’t just take a job for the salary, cool Friday drinks spot or prestige. You took a job in a business that you truly believe will become the next big thing and you believe in the team and founder so much so that you’re willing to risk the reputation, security, and likely take a pay cut. Most importantly, you’re willing to do this because your mission and goals align with what that business is working tirelessly to achieve.
Overall, I really encourage you all to find mentors that can support your growth and challenge you to be the best version of yourself.
Check out more stories like this at Textbook Ventures’ Medium publication.
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