🎧 New Episode with Dr Jing Ouyang 🚀- From NHS Doctor to Co-Founding a SaaS Startup Working With 100+ NHS Trusts
Hello everyone,
Welcome back to another edition of the Out of Programme newsletter!
In this episode, Muhammad interviews his co-host, Dr. Jing Ouyang, a former doctor and co-founder of Patchwork Health, a pioneer in NHS workforce management. They discuss Jing’s unconventional journey from excelling in school to struggling at Oxford, his exposure to the entrepreneurial mindset at Imperial, and his growing interest in digital health and innovation. Jing reflects on the pivotal moments that led him to co-found Patchwork, the challenges of balancing clinical training with a startup, and the ultimate decision to leave medicine. Throughout the episode, he shares insights on risk-taking, career pivots, and the realities of building a health tech company from the ground up.
🎙 Key Takeaways
🩺 Early Career Influences: Jing’s choice to pursue medicine was heavily influenced by cultural expectations and a lack of career guidance in secondary school. He felt his options were limited to medicine, engineering, or law.
📚 The Oxford Challenge: Despite excelling academically in school, Jing struggled with the highly academic and essay-based approach at Oxford. This led to a significant shift in his self-perception and career ambitions.
🚀 Hustle Culture at Imperial: Moving to Imperial for clinical training introduced him to a more entrepreneurial and competitive environment, where students actively sought research, business, and innovation opportunities.
💻 Early Entrepreneurial Spirit: From coding websites in primary school to organising student-led research projects, Jing always had an interest in technology and business, though he initially viewed them as hobbies rather than career paths.
🩻 Out-of-Programme Opportunities: He leveraged his time in medical school and the foundation program to explore digital health, policy, and innovation, including a non-traditional elective in consulting and NHS strategy.
🏥 The Turning Point – Patchwork Health: While locuming, Jing and his co-founder Anas identified inefficiencies in NHS staffing and co-founded Patchwork Health. What started as a side project quickly gained traction.
⚖️ The Big Decision: After completing F2, Jing faced a crossroads—continue clinical training or go all-in on Patchwork? The startup’s momentum and funding made the decision clear.
❤️🩹 Trade-offs & Reflections: Leaving medicine wasn’t an easy choice, and he still pays his GMC registration fee, highlighting the emotional connection to his medical identity. However, he has no regrets about building something impactful in healthcare innovation.
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Till next time,
Jing & Muhammad