24 Jul 2023

Zoe Lee: How To Join a Tech Startup As a Medical Student

Let me start off by saying that Zoe is doing exactly the things which I should have done while I was in medical school. During her second year in medical school, she decided she wanted to try out something different on the side, and sent out around 30-40 applications for internships in various companies. That landed her her current part-time job at Melon, an EdTech startup where she works as Community Associate.

I met Zoe quite randomly via LinkedIn as I saw one of her posts about how she get her tech job as a doctor. I thought that was really cool because not many medical students even consider the possibility of working at a tech startup during medical school - or even after medical school, for that matter.

I was super excited to talk to Zoe because I think that many listeners of this podcast, especially medical students and junior doctors, could be very interested to learn about her experiences: How the hell do you get a tech startup job as a medical student? And how do you make it work, is there even enough time? And, if she had to choose, which job would she prefer right now?

Zoe’s Biography

Zoe Lee is a medical student at Keele University in the UK. She’s also a part-time Community Associate at Melon, an EdTech startup which aims to boost Gen-Z’s microlearning process. Besides those two things, she also recently joined a Healthtech fellowship program at BiteLabs Healthtech, where the goal is to get together in groups and build a Healthtech product within a few weeks.

Things we talked about

  • What Zoe is currently doing in her third year of medical school, and why she chose to study Medicine
  • Getting her first tech startup job at Melon: How she applied, how many other applications she sent out and her small “hack” for (maybe?) improving your chances
  • What she does at Melon and what it means building a community and creating content for TikTok
  • How she manages to do juggle her tech startup job with her studies in medical school: Remote work, flexible work hours, time off for studying and more
  • We discussed whether good “quality” work is rewarded more in tech startups vs. in the hospital
  • What’s more fun: Whether working at a tech startup or as a doctor?
  • Her experience joining the BiteLabs Healthtech Fellowship
  • Her interest in writing and what she would do if she wouldn’t have to earn money
  • What advice she would give to other medical students / junior doctors who are interested in exploring other opportunities or working in tech

Listen to the Episode