Interview with Yara, International Account Director
Yara, International Account Director at Intouch with Health joined the company in January 2020, and has quickly established herself as a key member of the team. Yara is fluent in six languages (including Arabic) and brings a wealth of experience and key strategic insight into Intouch with Health’s international operations. To celebrate her first few months at Intouch with Health, we sat down for a quick Q & A session.
Hi Yara. Can you tell us a bit about your background in healthcare technology?
My journey in healthcare technology started in university graduating as Biomedical Engineer. After specialising in nuclear physics (cancer treatment), I went through a Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering specialising in Cardiovascular Engineering (graft for heart malformation). Through my research work (looking towards a PhD), I then met my first boss in the corporate sector and decided to switch and start a career in the medical industry. Since then I have had several roles all in healthcare technology.
How will your role support Intouch customers on an international scale?
I see my role as the go to point for customers on an international scale, supporting them not only to achieve their known needs / requirements but also exploring new potentials, providing them with the best advice and support to achieve goals they didn’t even know they had / wanted.
What are you looking forward to most about Intouch’s international development?
Exploring new horizons while understanding the healthcare system in each of the countries Intouch operates in. Providing the best fitted solutions to meet the needs, but also learning and acquiring new ideas. There is no limit to how much one can learn from others, especially in healthcare in which each country has found different ways to deal with the specificity of culture, language, diversity etc.
What is the biggest change or development you’ve seen in the industry during your career to date?
That is a very wide question as the medical industry itself is very wide. I would say patient centricity though. During my studies, I thought the patient would be the centre of it all, only to be taught differently during my first years in the field. However, starting 5 years ago or so, I noticed a switch back to patient centricity which I appreciate a lot. We can all be patients one day and there is nothing more difficult than being in pain / worried about your life and not receiving proper care / feeling comfortable with the care received.
What do you think makes for a great relationship between healthtech providers such as Intouch and the teams using the technology on the front line?
Understanding. We wouldn’t be able to offer an award-winning solution praised by the users if we didn’t truly put the need of the users on the front line (patients as well as clinical staff) at the beginning of it all.
Which one word best describes the way you do things?
Passionately.
What do you think makes Intouch with Health stand out from its competitors?
On a product side, the depth and reach of its solutions, and being led by an experienced healthcare team. On an organisation side, the humanity and family feel. I have never worked in a company before with the amount of both these things as much as Intouch with Health.
When you are not at work, what are we most likely to find you doing?
In winter, most likely enjoying a nice warm cup of tea with some music or a good movie. In summer, outside in nature, walking around and discovering new places (no map, just heading out to the adventure).
If you were not part of the Intouch with Health team and could have any job in the world, what would it be?
10 years ago I would have still wanted to be a marine biologists (something I had dreamt of since my childhood, I think it is the first job I ever wanted to do), but a couple of years ago it changed to being a nurse.
If you'd like to get in contact with Yara, please send us an email.
