What Happens After You Land a Health Tech Job? Pharmacist Turned Product Manager Lauren Curtis, PharmD

What happens after a clinician lands a health tech job? Most advice about moving from clinical practice into health tech stops at the offer letter. This conversation picks up where that advice ends: a startup acquisition, a new manager, a role that changes under you, and the question of whether you are still a clinician.

Host Helen Tanner talks with Lauren Curtis, PharmD, a pharmacist turned product manager and the founder of Hey Health Tech, the newsletter and community helping clinicians understand health tech and explore non-clinical careers. Lauren left community pharmacy for PillPack with a cold email, stayed through its 2018 acquisition by Amazon, moved from program management into product management at Amazon Pharmacy, and now works in product in the durable medical equipment space. She has now spent as long in health tech as she did in traditional pharmacy practice.

In this episode:

• How a cold email and steady follow-up landed Lauren her first startup role at PillPack
• Why the same title is a different job at a 35-person startup than at a large company
• How to set boundaries in an early-stage startup, and why it is okay if they shift over time
• Using a simple priorities spreadsheet to get aligned with your CEO or manager
• What changes overnight, and what changes slowly, when your startup is acquired by Amazon
• How to protect your non-clinical career progress through an acquisition or a manager change
• Why Lauren still introduces herself as a pharmacist after more than a decade in tech
• How to build a side project like Hey Health Tech while working full time
• Lauren’s four lessons for clinicians entering health tech, plus the non-healthcare book that shaped how she thinks about patients and customers

Resources mentioned:

• Hey Health Tech: https://www.heyhealthtech.com/
• Hey Health Tech newsletter: https://heyhealthtech.beehiiv.com/
• Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/tony-hsieh/delivering-happiness/9780446576222/

Connect with Lauren Curtis, PharmD:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-curtis/
• Hey Health Tech: https://www.heyhealthtech.com/

Thank you to our founding sponsor, Hey Health Tech: a newsletter and community helping healthcare professionals understand the industry, discover new career opportunities, and connect with people working in tech. Learn more at https://www.heyhealthtech.com/

Get the free Field Guide: The Early Hires Clinician Startup Field Guide, 10 Things Every Clinician Should Know Before and After Joining a Startup, is free when you sign up at https://www.theearlyhires.com/. You will also be signed up for The Early Hires monthly newsletter.

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Edited by Steve Woodward at podcastingeditor.com

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