Our 2016 Graduates - Where are they now?

Back in August 2016, OPEN Health were delighted to welcome 6 new graduates to the OPEN Health group – The largest ever intake for OPEN Health and the most grads in any CHIME company for the 2016 scheme! The 2-year scheme gave the graduates the opportunity to complete 8/9 month rotations between some of the OPEN Health businesses, to gain some insight into the different healthcare communications and market access disciplines.

As we start the process again to find our next set of grads for 2018, we take a look at how our 2016 grads are getting on, and what the future holds for them. This is what they had to say...

Pictured left to right: Emma Phillips, Helen Munt, Fiona Grace, Charlotte Naylor, Harvey Broadhurst and Emma White.

Emma Phillips

In my first rotation at Succinct, I helped organise several international KOL meetings, and a forum of European experts to discuss ways to improve osteoporosis care, which I was able to attend in Amsterdam. While most of my time was spent working on projects in the emerging markets, in Reynolds-Mackenzie (R-M) my work has been very much focused on the UK. I've learnt lots about the approvals processes that lead to a NICE recommendation, as well the importance of good media relations and have been involved in several media outreaches that secured significant coverage, which is very rewarding. More recently, I've worked on a disease awareness programme and crisis communications, and am excited to continue in my permanent role at R-M!

Helen Munt

When I was at The Earthworks I worked on a book builder website that allowed HCPs to create personalised support information for their patients. I enjoyed this project as it was so varied, involving both digital and patient engagement knowledge, and I worked with lots of different teams, including developers, designers, specialist nurses, health psychologists and patient charities. I also now know more about Gaucher Disease than I thought possible…

I got the chance to work on a charity project for icandance with the other Chime graduates in 2017. icandance is a charity offering dance and performance opportunities to children and young adults with disabilities. We worked together to create PR, marketing, social media and website materials, designed to help the charity improve their outreach and build partnerships with supporters. The project enabled networking across the wider Chime group, as well as brushing us grads up on client handling, organisation and presenting. We got invited to the charity’s summer dance show as a thank you, and we’re planning on going back annually to keep in touch and show our support.

I am now at Reynolds Mackenzie London for my third and final rotation, working across the Vertex and BMS accounts. I’ve dipped my toes into lots of different aspects of PR, including media monitoring and outreach, but mostly handle the day-to-day management of clients and accounts. I’m still finding my feet but have already experienced how fast-paced PR can be!

Fiona Grace

The Chime graduates spent 2 days working with the marketing team at Waitrose, where we were tasked with developing a multi-channel marketing campaign to encourage a younger demographic to shop at Waitrose. At the end of the two days each group had to pitch their idea to the heads of Marketing. I particularly enjoyed this project as it allowed me to work on the strategy and planning aspect of a marketing campaign whilst also giving us the opportunity to practise our pitching skills. 

During my time in LEC I worked on an exciting project where we were tasked by our client to develop a brand identity for two clinical trials they had conducted on their Haemophilia drug. We worked closely with the client to identify the key attributes they wanted to convey through each trial, in order to incorporate these into an intuitive brand concept. This was a project I enjoyed working on throughout, from the initial brainstorm to when the finalised marketing campaign was rolled out.

I am currently on my third and final rotation, working as a Digital Communications Coordinator in the OPEN Digital team. I primarily help in the accurate specification and selling-in of digital projects across the OPEN Health group, but also support on the day to day running of projects.

Charlotte Naylor

Charlotte joined our Marlow cohort and completed rotations at The EarthWorks and Succinct West. In December, she decided to leave the scheme in order to go travelling, something she has always been very keen to do.

Harvey Broadhurst

Harvey joined the scheme as a non-rotational grad in Reynolds Mackenzie. He decided to leave OPEN Health, after the scheme, to work in a role where he’ll be working on PR projects with a digital focus.

Emma White

Emma’s time on the scheme was split between Reynolds Mackenzie and Succinct London. Although not with OPEN Health anymore, Emma is still within the Chime family and now has a role at CSM.

For more information on the 2018 OPEN Health Graduate scheme, visit our dedicated page, or get in touch with Sarah Longmuir, HR Business partner at OPEN Health on sarahlongmuir@openhealth.co.uk.