Disruptive Doctors co-founders Dr. Selina Chew and Dr. Vivek Subramaniam reveal in a HealthTechAsia interview how their platform is empowering healthcare professionals across Malaysia to impact healthcare differently, by introducing previously unexplored career paths and fostering new connections.

Career uncertainty beleaguers many professionals these days, but for doctors accustomed to a linear path it can feel particularly unsettling. Malaysian startup Disruptive Doctors aims to change this, ensuring healthcare professionals can continue to make a significant impact beyond traditional roles in clinical medicine.  

Disruptive Doctors’ story began in Kuala Lumpur in 2017 when Dr. Selina Chew’s career hopes as a Ministry of Health physician were dashed by injury and a lack of support, prompting her to leave clinical practice. 

She had been working in government hospitals with the goal of becoming an intensive care specialist. “I was really inspired by a mentor,” she recalled. “I wanted to follow in her footsteps and impact healthcare.”

Then the unexpected happened. 

A slipped disc, incurred during a rock climbing session one Saturday, left her reeling. Undeterred, she drove to work on medication the following day.

She went to her superior with a request for light duty, since her role demanded a high degree of physical mobility, but her head of department for Anaesthesia and ICU had other plans. “My boss flatly told me, ‘you don’t have a future here because of your back injury’,” she said.

Feeling angry and unsupported, Dr. Selina moved from the ICU into medical research, but the transition proved challenging. “It was incredibly difficult,” she remarked. “I didn’t know what I could do with my knowledge. I ended up collecting samples and doing data entry.” 

Dr. Selina’s experience wasn’t unique. 

She pointed to the rigidity of the government healthcare system. “New graduates traditionally start junior training and go on to become medical officers. As doctors, we’re told there’s only one way to succeed: becoming a specialist. But not everyone can become one. In some cases, their path is cut short after five to seven years.”

Transitioning to another field after this point is difficult, partly because doctors aren’t trained to consider alternative career paths and partly because those with several years of experience may be seen as overqualified.  “There is no system in place in Malaysia to retain talent,” Dr. Selina said. “I saw many doctors leave for Australia and Singapore.”

Creating future-ready doctors

The knowledge gap led Dr. Selina to identify an opportunity to help healthcare professionals explore new possibilities. She teamed up with Dr. Vivek Subramaniam, a like-minded physician she met on LinkedIn who had returned to Malaysia after eight years in the UK. Together, they co-founded a platform to connect and support doctors, empowering them to make a different impact in healthcare, even if they are no longer practising.

Their first initiative was an in-person event held in KL aimed at uniting the doctors community: the Healthcare Diverse Careers Conference and Exhibition. Similar activities followed, including on-demand courses, webinars, and workshops. 

Introduced in 2024, the Non-Clinical Pathfinder workshop, for example, supports doctors who are seeking careers beyond clinical medicine but don’t know where to start, by scoping out potential career paths and sectors within healthcare. Skill and knowledge gaps are identified, along with job opportunities for doctors pursuing alternative paths.

“When we mapped out the possibilities on paper, we realised it’s so vast,” Dr. Selina admitted, highlighting pharma, insurance, tech, and hospital management as career options.

“Many doctors are flocking to new opportunities in the private system,” Dr. Vivek added. “Yet they don’t know about things like AI and ChatGPT, as they are so focused on what they are doing in the hospital. We aim to expose doctors to non-clinical opportunities, like insurance, research, and university lecturing.”  

Other workshops offered by Disruptive Doctors have included AI in healthcare and how to build a profitable GP clinic. “We even did a bootcamp on how to build a healthtech app,” said Dr. Selina. “We did this [workshop] for a triage app for an emergency department. I remember in ICU, there were systems that didn’t work and didn’t suit the workflow, which were compromising patient care and safety,” she explained.

Disruptive Doctors is also upskilling doctors by connecting them with organisations across Malaysia. “We are fostering connections with industry to build awareness and create opportunities,“ Dr. Vivek explained, citing digital transformation as an example. “We are collaborating with partners to help doctors get involved.”

A potential ally has been found in Malaysia’s Minister of Health, whom the founders recently met. “The Ministry is very keen on digital transformation in healthcare, and this is heavily dependent on stakeholder adaptation,” said Dr. Vivek. “Doctors are the primary stakeholders, so we need to consider how to prepare them for this digital shift. Before we address system transformation we need to focus on people transformation.”  

Community growth

Disruptive Doctors has come a long way since its inception, today connecting 4,000 healthcare professionals through its platform. The organisation has ambitious plans for the future, envisioning 1 million doctors by 2030.

“We plan to grow regionally to countries such as Australia, India, and Singapore,” commented Dr. Vivek. “In Malaysia meanwhile there are approximately 90,000 doctors. Achieving a reach of 10 to 15 percent by mid-2025 would be a great milestone.”

Healthcare professionals experienced an opportunity to grow their network, meanwhile, by attending the 2024 edition of Disruptive Doctors’ Healthcare Revolution Conference & Exhibition (H.Rev) on 10-11 August. 

Held in KL with the support of Malaysian government agency MDEC, the event gathered experts, professionals, and innovators driving healthcare transformation, with a focus on areas crucial to the industry. Drawing 350 attendees in 2023, the event this year welcomed approximately 500 doctors from Australia, Bangladesh, New Zealand, and beyond to the Sime Darby Convention Centre in the Malaysian capital. 

Over two days, 65 local and international speakers shared insights through conference topics that delved into a wide range of healthcare innovations, including the application of AI in mental health, gaming in healthcare, robotics, and IoT, while entrepreneurship and investment in healthcare were explored at the venue concurrently. 

H.Rev also marked the conclusion of the Healthcare Innovators Challenge, a two-month program and competition aimed at developing innovative healthcare solutions. The final demo day featured pitches from aspiring innovators.

Attendee feedback was positive, with one participant noting that H.Rev helped them see beyond traditional sick care, while another shared that they had felt lost and stuck before attending, unsure of what other opportunities were available to them. Welcoming the event, a third likened working within the Ministry of Health to “living in a cocoon”.

Recognising the strong international appeal of H.Rev, Disruptive Doctors plans to expand the event regionally. ‘We want to make it more accessible to doctors,” said Dr. Selina.

Technology will be a key part of their ambitions. “We are planning to build our own tech,” said Dr. Selina. “We hope to launch a super app by 2025. It will provide information, upskilling, job openings, and side income opportunities. On top of that, it will facilitate connections and collaborations with doctors across the globe.” 

From a climbing injury to conquering new heights in healthcare, the Disruptive Doctors duo shows no signs of slowing down.