Guide for clinicians entering digital health
We are often asked by clinicians, “How do I get into digital health?”.
Well here’s your answer, and like many things in life, it’s not easy, but “Everything worth doing is hard”.
1. ESSENTIAL GROUPS & NETWORKS
Creative Careers in Medicine (CCIM): The premier Australasian hub for clinicians exploring paths beyond the bedside.
Australasian Institute of Digital Health (AIDH): Join as a member to access the Clinical Informatics Network (CIN) and local branch meetups.
Talking HealthTech (THT) Community: A massive slack-style ecosystem for founders, clinicians, and tech leaders.
What the Health (WTH) Private Community: A highly specialised, "insider" network. Curated for those deep in the healthtech trenches.
2. SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS (SIGS): If you are currently a member of a medical college or association, your first "digital" networking move should be internal. These groups provide a safe harbor to discuss clinical governance, tech-enabled care, and policy with peers, eg. the RACGPand RACMAhave their own SIGs.
3. MEDIA / NEWSLETTERS
Pulse+IT:The "industry bible" for Australian digital health. Their daily newsletter is the best way to stay current on EMR rollouts and policy.
Health Services Daily: Focused on the intersection of digital health and health reform.
What the Health (WTH) Newsletter: One of the most practical and insightful newsletters in the Australian market. It provides a weekly breakdown of the latest health-tech news, funding rounds, and clinical opportunities.
Talking HealthTech (THT) Newsletter: The companion to the podcast. It provides a weekly summary of new episodes, technical show notes, and industry news.
Veri Health Media: High-level business intelligence and investigative journalism within the Australian health sector.
4. PODCASTS
Talking HealthTech Podcast: Hosted by Peter Birch; the #1 podcast in Australia for the latest on health startups and clinical innovation.
5. CREDENTIALS & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
CHIA (Certified Health Informatician Australasia): The gold standard credential for proving you understand the "informatics" side of the industry.
AIDH Fellowship / Associate Fellowship: Recognises senior clinical leaders in the field (use post-nominals FAIDH or AFAIDH).
6. STARTUP PROGRAMS
AUSCEP (Australian Clinical Entrepreneur Program): It focuses on the mindset of a Clinical Entrepreneur—teaching you how to navigate IP, procurement, and pilot programs within the Aussie health system.
CICA Lab (by Australian Medical Angels): "By clinicians, for clinicians." If you have a seedling of an idea and need to know if it’s a viable business, start here.
MLAI (Machine Learning & AI in Healthcare): If you want to build your technical literacy, join their Slack and attend their MedHack: Frontiers events.
NSW Founders (Health 10x): In partnership with The George Institute. It’s highly competitive and specifically targets "unmet medical needs" on a global scale.
Sparked FHIR Accelerator program: This community led HL7 standards development program provides a great opportunity for clinicians to dive into digital health though the lens of connected care.
ACTIVATE (by ANDHealth): Purpose-built accelerator program for Victorian digital and connected health start-up companies with significant growth potential that are ready to scale.
7. EVENTS
Digital Health Festival 26 aka (DHF26) (May 20–21 | Melbourne): Australia's largest commercial healthtech expo, featuring 8,000+ attendees, 400+ speakers and 300+ exhibitors across 11 stages.
Wild Health Summit (June 16–17 | Canberra): A high-level policy "think tank”, it’s the best place for clinicians to understand the intersection of healthcare politics, demographics, and business.
AIDH Health Innovation Community (HIC) (August 3–5 | Sydney): The premier academic and scientific conference for health informatics, emphasising data governance and evidence-based innovation.
8. EXPERIENCE!
Never forget, nothing beats hands-on experience through relentless networking!
To show you have advised healthtech companies on your CV makes that next gig easier to land.
Head to the HTD ANZ Healthtech Directory or read the newsletters above daily, and contact these companies offering your services, volunteer, advisory or otherwise across their clinical, product or other work.
9. CLINICAL ADVISORS
At Clinical Advisors, we work on largely unadvertised, niche opportunities for clinicians beyond the bedside:
Keep in touch with us at terry@clinicaladvisors.com.au
