Clinicians as Innovators
The group was reminded that clinicians are uniquely positioned to lead innovation. Being on the front line means they see opportunities and problems first-hand, and they already have the mindset to solve them.
“Don’t underestimate how good you are as a problem solver. Go back to what you learn as a clinician. You observe, make an assessment and make a plan. It’s no different in innovation. Little ideas can become big things. Everyone can do it - it’s about being curious.” – Brandon Carp, ASME President.
Panel 1: Navigating the Innovation Ecosystem
The first panel session brought together leaders from LaunchVic, Validitron, and VicMedtech Skills Hub to unpack the healthcare innovation ecosystem.
A key theme was the challenge of knowing when to bring people into a growing business. Hiring too quickly can drain resources, while contracting or outsourcing early on often provides greater flexibility. Anita Petris, Industry Engagement Manager at Victorian Medtech Skills and Devices Hub (VMH), stressed the importance of matching company structure to stage of growth. “You don’t want to grow too quickly and end up with HR challenges before you’ve validated your product,” said Anita. This is a subject which is covered later in the program.
Brandon also addressed important questions about co-founder dynamics. Like any relationship, partnerships should be built gradually and intentionally. In some cases, support might come via a co-founder or a venture studio that can provide expertise in exchange for equity.
“There is no one-size-fits-all, but a key with a founding team is they should be complementary. There’s no point having all the same skills and ideas on the team.” – Brandon
Panel 2: Insights from Clinical Entrepreneurs
Next up weheard from three clinical entrepreneurs - Dr Anu Ganugapati founder of StatDoctor, Dr Simon Skalicky founder of Eyeonic,and Dr Jonathan Orelowitz founderof Healthlogix - who spoke candidly about their journeys, the hurdles,and lessons learned.
Dr Ganugapati (Cohort2 AUSCEP alumni) reflected that one of the hardest transitions for clinicians is shifting mindset: in medicine, decisions are made after gathering as muchinformation as possible, but in business, speed and iteration matter more than certainty. Mistakes are inevitable - and acceptable - as long as learning happens quickly.
Dr Orelowitz emphasised the importance of finding the right business model early. Many founders, he observed, focus on product development without giving enough thought to commercialisation and revenue.
Dr Skalicky echoed this, highlighting that without a clear commercial pathway or distribution channel, even the best product can fail. He advised participants to aim for solutions that integrate seamlessly into existing clinical systems rather than requiring wholesale change.
When asked what they would do differently, their answers reflected the realities of early entrepreneurship:
Participants also got to work on stakeholder mapping, pitching their ideas to the room, and sharing peer feedback.
The AUSCEP program aims to build a supportive community and for Johannes Maehrlein - an Osteopath who has joined the Victorian Cohort this year - the chance to connect with peers was a highlight:
“I appreciate the fact that I can be here with a heap of other people that are going through the same thing and we can bounce ideas off each other. Just talking about something you’ve had in mind for so long is the first step to actually manifesting it.”
After a fantastic launch for AUSCEP’s Cohort 4 in Victoria, we will be sharing the groups’ progress throughout the next 12 months and look forward to meeting our New South Wales AUSCEP participants in a few weeks’ time.
