Ashwin Nayak

How did you strategically leverage the momentum gained from MCiM to propel yourself into a successful career transition into digital health? 

As a physician and AI researcher, MCiM helped me understand how to best apply my skill set for positive impact. I deeply enjoy the clinical work and research I do at Stanford, but after MCiM, I felt ready to explore new challenges outside of academia. MCiM empowered me to make this transition, and now I get to spend time in industry and academia, which is the career I always wanted.

Were there specific resources or support structures within the program that you found particularly valuable in shaping your ability to lead and innovate within the digital health domain? 

I found program leadership and faculty to be incredibly supportive and accessible (and they continue to be). The network I gained from this program has helped me significantly. I wouldn’t be where I am today without it!

In what ways did the program instill a sense of social responsiblity and ethical considerations in the context of digital health, influencing your approach to creating a positive impact in healthcare? 

Throughout all of our classes, from marketing to biodesign to data science, the focus was always on creating solutions that provided real value to patients and providers. There are a lot of stakeholders in healthcare - understanding and emphasizing the perspective of the patient helped ground us and ensure that we prioritized social and ethical considerations. It was really reassuring to see that all of my peers shared this mindset. It led to an extremely cohesive and collegial experience. I came away from MCiM feeling more optimistic about the future of healthcare.

Could you please share some of the standout achievements or milestones you've accomplished in your career since completing the MCiM program? We'd love to hear about the successes that you're particularly proud of. 

After completing MCiM, I co-founded UpDoc with Sharif Vakili. Our goal is to expand access to high-quality diabetes care with Remote Patient Intervention. Read more about us at https://updoc.ai