Out Of Programme

Out Of Programme
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The Out Of Programme (OOP) podcast shines a spotlight on clinicians who have ventured beyond the traditional path of clinical training to forge unique and unconventional careers. Hosted by Dr Jing Ouyang, this series delves into the diverse backgrounds, driving motivations and transformative moments that shaped their journeys outside the realm of medicine. Whether you’re a clinician curious about life beyond the white coat or simply fascinated by stories of bold career reinvention, this podcast offers inspiring conversations and thought-provoking insights that go beyond the ordinary.

  1. 4d ago

    Episode 36: Dr Nick Appelbaum on How Lord Darzi Changed His Career, Building the First Machine-Readable BNF, and Why Academic Projects Die Without Commercial Infrastructure

    What happens when a South African surgeon gets plucked out by Lord Darzi, builds the first machine-readable BNF, and spins a company out of Imperial that reduces prescribing errors by 83%? In this episode, we speak with Dr Nick Appelbaum, a surgeon turned entrepreneur who went from inventing spreadsheet-based prescribing safety tools in South Africa to completing a PhD with Lord Ara Darzi at Imperial, leading clinical research at the Helix Centre, and founding Dosium — a company now integrating the BNF into NHS prescribing systems. 🔬 How a "self-help program that grew out of hand" — inventing medication safety tools in South Africa's trauma centres — landed him a meeting with Lord Darzi 🏛️ Why Lord Darzi laughed at his plan to do an immunology PhD at Oxford and instead put him on the 10th floor at St Mary's to build something real 📚 The seven-year journey to create the first machine-readable British National Formulary, working with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society 🏥 Founding Dosium and integrating the BNF into NHS electronic prescribing — reducing the odds of a medication error by 83% across deployed trusts 💡 Why "academic projects die without putting the infrastructure in place upfront" — and how the NIHR I4I grant forced the spinout decision 🎯 The advice he wishes he'd had earlier: "find the suits, speak to the CFO, validate the economic proposition early — don't leave it to the last minute" Nick's story is a masterclass in turning a clinical frustration into a national infrastructure play, with the right mentorship and institutional backing. Follow us on: 🗞 Substack 💼 LinkedIn ▶ YouTube 🎧 Listen on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts

  2. Jul 14

    Episode 35: Cosima Gretton on Leaving Medicine for Silicon Valley, Why Product Thinking Is the Opposite of Medical Training, and Scaling the UK's Biggest Health Research Programme

    What happens when a doctor trained in experimental psychology leaves medicine in F2, builds products in Silicon Valley, runs a £10M/day COVID testing programme, and becomes Chief Product Officer of the UK's largest health research study? In this episode, we speak with Dr Cosima Gretton, a medical doctor who left clinical practice to pursue product management in the US, served as Deputy Director at NHS Test & Trace during the pandemic, and is now Chief Product Officer at Our Future Health — a research programme that has recruited over 2.5 million participants across the UK. • 🧠 Why studying human factors design and cross-modal integration at Oxford made her see clinical systems as fundamentally flawed — and why she couldn't unsee it • 🎨 Founding AXNS Collective as a medical student — bringing together artists, neuroscientists, and an LSD research project at Imperial College London • 🌉 How a friend's persistent invitation to apply for Singularity University in Silicon Valley changed the entire trajectory of her career • 🦠 Leading LAMP testing at NHS Test & Trace — the pressure of a 10-million-tests-per-day Christmas target and what it's like when government actually works at startup pace • 📊 Becoming CPO at Our Future Health and building the infrastructure to recontact 2.5 million participants for clinical research — and return their data back to them Cosima's story is a rare window into what happens when a clinician fully commits to the product discipline — and why the two mindsets are harder to reconcile than most people think. Follow us on: 🗞 Substack 💼 LinkedIn ▶ YouTube 🎧 Listen on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts

  3. Jun 30

    Episode 34: Dr Alastair Darwood on Selling a Startup in FY1, Licensing Medical Device IP Instead of Building Companies, and Why He Never Runs the Businesses He Creates

    What happens when a medical student sells a surgical robotics startup before finishing FY1 — and then spends the next decade inventing devices he deliberately never runs? In this episode, we speak with Dr Alastair Darwood, a medical doctor with a bioengineering PhD who has built a career as an inventor and entrepreneur across medical devices, consumer hardware, and cycling technology. From orthopaedic robotics to analgesic masks to e-bikes, Alastair's playbook is always the same: invent, validate, license — then move on to the next problem. • 🔬 How he founded Prometheus Surgical as a medical student, raised £170k, and sold it to De Souter Medical in FY1 — the robot is now in use on patients as the Solito • 🫁 Building a low-cost ventilator during COVID with Red Bull Advanced Technologies — and why the project was shut down just as it started working • 🚴 Co-founding Scarpa, an e-bike electrification company with £14M raised and products now stocked in 70 UK shops — without touching the business side • 😷 Licensing an analgesic mask to Intersurgical that is currently in clinical trials at St Mary's — patient-controlled inhalational anaesthesia for procedures that don't need a GA • 🤖 Why AI has turned invention into Lego bricks — and how a project that would have taken a year now takes three weeks Alastair's story is a masterclass in finding your unfair advantage, building a playbook around it, and having the discipline to hand everything else to someone else. Follow us on: 🗞 Substack 💼 LinkedIn ▶ YouTube 🎧 Listen on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts

  4. Jun 16

    Episode 33: Dr Guy Northover on Leading CAMHS Digital Transformation, Managing Conflict of Interest as a Clinician-Founder, and Why the NHS Needs Senior Leaders to Start Companies

    What happens when a Consultant Psychiatrist, NHS Digital Exemplar leader, and GIRFT national lead decides the only way to truly fix children's mental health services is to leave the NHS and build an AI startup? In this episode, we speak with Dr Guy Northover, Consultant in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Chief Clinical Information Officer at Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, and co-founder of Anathem — an AI company that has reduced frontline mental health admin burden by 61%. 🚗 Why he quit A&E, bought a Land Rover, and drove to Ghana to work out what he actually wanted from medicine 🏥 How Berkshire Healthcare became one of only seven mental health trusts to achieve Global Digital Exemplar status — and was already COVID-ready before the pandemic hit 📊 His work as GIRFT National Clinical Lead for CAMHS, and how data alone helped halve the number of children admitted to inpatient units nationwide 🤖 Co-founding Anathem with a chance conversation at a children's hockey match — and why a 61% reduction in admin burden is changing whether clinicians stay or leave the NHS ⚖️ The uncomfortable reality of managing conflict of interest as a senior NHS leader running a startup in your own specialty — and why it's worth navigating anyway 💡 Why senior clinicians make the best founders — and how vibe coding with Lovable has made him a one-man product team Guy's story is a compelling case for why the NHS needs its most experienced leaders to take the entrepreneurial leap — not despite their seniority, but because of it. Follow us on: 🗞 Substack 💼 LinkedIn ▶ YouTube 🎧 Listen on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts

    Episode 33: Dr Guy Northover on Leading CAMHS Digital Transformation, Managing Conflict of Interest as a Clinician-Founder, and Why the NHS Needs Senior Leaders to Start Companies

  5. Jun 2

    Episode 32: Dr Meenakshi Jhala on Why Clinicians Make the Best Investors, Building a Clinician-Led Angel Syndicate, and How to Break Into Healthcare VC

    What happens when a GP trainee with zero finance knowledge decides to break into healthcare VC — and ends up co-founding a clinician-led angel syndicate? In this episode, we speak with Dr Meenakshi Jhala, NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow at King's College London, Chief of Staff at Syntax, and co-founder of Tiny Ventures and DX Capital — a clinician-led angel syndicate dedicated to funding the innovations healthcare actually needs. • 🩺 Why guideline-driven medicine felt like being a tomato in a greenhouse — and what made her look beyond clinical training • 📈 How she broke into healthcare VC as a fifth-year medical student with no finance background, conducting due diligence at Rise Asset Management • 🤝 The relationship-building philosophy that unlocked every role she's ever had — and why 100% of her work has come through connections • 🚀 Building Tiny Ventures as an accelerator for aspiring investors and launching DX Capital to fund what clinicians know actually matters • 🧠 Why doctors can't just be badge collectors — and the difference between execution and ambition • 💡 How she balances clinical practice, research, a startup, and an angel syndicate without attaching emotion to any of it Meenakshi's story is a masterclass in curiosity, execution, and building a career that's genuinely yours — not the one the system designed for you. Follow us on: 🗞 Substack 💼 LinkedIn ▶ YouTube 🎧 Listen on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts

    Episode 32: Dr Meenakshi Jhala on Why Clinicians Make the Best Investors, Building a Clinician-Led Angel Syndicate, and How to Break Into Healthcare VC

  6. May 19

    Episode 31: Dr Dom Pimenta on Why NHS IT Systems Fail, Building AI That Actually Helps Clinicians, and the Gap Between Innovation and Implementation

    What happens when a cardiologist realises NHS IT is failing patients — and decides to build an AI clinician that actually listens? In this episode, we speak with Dr Dom Pimenta, a former NHS cardiologist who left clinical practice to co-found Tortus AI, an intelligent ambient voice interface for clinicians backed by Entrepreneur First and Khosla Ventures. 🏥 Why Dom's Catholic upbringing and childhood obsession with death led him to medicine — and why he eventually left 🧠 The frustration of watching NHS IT systems fail clinicians and patients, and the moment he decided to build something better 🔧 How Entrepreneur First helped him pivot from doctor to founder, and the reality of raising venture capital as a clinician ⚖️ The ethics of AI in healthcare — why "human-in-the-loop" matters and what Dom learned from deploying AI in live clinical environments 📈 What Tortus AI actually does, how it works, and why ambient voice interfaces might be the future of clinical documentation 🎯 Dom's advice for clinicians considering the leap into healthtech entrepreneurship — and what he'd do differently Dom's story is a candid exploration of what it takes to leave a secure clinical career, bet on yourself, and build technology that might actually fix the system you left behind. Follow us on: 🗞 Substack 💼 LinkedIn ▶ YouTube 🎧 Listen on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts

    Episode 31: Dr Dom Pimenta on Why NHS IT Systems Fail, Building AI That Actually Helps Clinicians, and the Gap Between Innovation and Implementation

  7. May 5

    Episode 30: Dr Rishi Das-Gupta on the journey to becoming an NHS Trust Chief Innovation Officer and Scaling System Change Across South London

    What happens when a doctor spends a decade at McKinsey, returns to the NHS, and creates a Chief Innovation Officer role from scratch? In this episode, we speak with Dr Rishi Das-Gupta, former Chief Innovation Officer at Royal Brompton Hospital and now CEO of Health Innovation Network South London and DigitalHealth.London. He shares how he went from covering the whole hospital overnight as a junior doctor to reshaping how the NHS adopts technology at scale. • 🏥 The one-in-four on-call rota that showed him what the NHS was getting wrong • 🧮 Why he left medicine for McKinsey — and why two years became ten • 🧠 Building a US healthcare practice and lessons from data-rich industries • 🔧 Returning to the NHS after a decade away and creating a Chief Innovation Officer role • ⚖️ Why implementation beats strategy — and making change happen inside hospital systems • 📈 The future of NHS digital transformation and why he's optimistic about what's next Rishi's story is a masterclass in leaving medicine, gaining industry perspective, and returning to transform the system from within. Follow us on: 🗞 Substack 💼 LinkedIn ▶ YouTube 🎧 Listen on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts

  8. Apr 21

    Episode 29: Dr James Somauroo on a Near-Miss £40M Fund, Why Doctors Make Better Marketers, and Building SomX with His Wife

    What if the path to your true calling isn't through following expectations, but through recognising where your real talents lie? In this episode, we speak with Dr James Somauroo, former anaesthetist turned health tech entrepreneur, who transformed his realisation that he was "better at fixing the system than treating patients" into a remarkable career building the infrastructure for health innovation. • 👨‍⚕️ From immigrant family expectations to discovering his true strengths lay elsewhere • 🏛️ The Bruce Keough Fellowship and co-founding the Clinical Entrepreneur Programme • 🚀 Leading Digital Health London Accelerator and running his own health tech accelerator • 💰 The £40M fund that almost was—lessons from a deal undone by COVID • 🎙️ Building SomX from scratch with his wife Jess, bootstrapped to success • 💡 Why clinicians should seek purpose, not just "any port in a storm" James's journey from reluctant doctor to communications agency CEO reveals how embracing your authentic skills—even when they defy expectations—can lead to extraordinary impact. Follow us on: 🗞 Substack 💼 LinkedIn ▶ YouTube 🎧 Listen on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts

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About

The Out Of Programme (OOP) podcast shines a spotlight on clinicians who have ventured beyond the traditional path of clinical training to forge unique and unconventional careers. Hosted by Dr Jing Ouyang, this series delves into the diverse backgrounds, driving motivations and transformative moments that shaped their journeys outside the realm of medicine. Whether you’re a clinician curious about life beyond the white coat or simply fascinated by stories of bold career reinvention, this podcast offers inspiring conversations and thought-provoking insights that go beyond the ordinary.

Information

  • Creator
    Out Of Programme
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    36
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Out Of Programme
  • Show Website
    Out Of Programme