From Doctor to AI Entrepreneur

On the last day of National Careers Week our Year 11 students welcomed Mark Lomax to their assembly.

Mark spoke to the students about his route into medicine and explained that although he was good at science and knew family members who were in the profession, he trained as a doctor simply because he felt that it was expected of him. Mark took a gap year to travel between his A Levels and starting university, and although he spent five years training to become a doctor and made friends with the other students, he also found the experience isolating at times. It was very clear that while others had a real vocation for the profession, in the back of his mind he had already realised that life as a junior doctor was not for him.

Once qualified as a doctor, moments of satisfaction came in the shape of saving lives and delivering babies, but at the age of 25 Mark met with a Careers Counsellor who suggested that his transferable skills would be a good fit for MI6. However, Mark enjoyed creating things and problem solving, and he took a leap of faith and started his own business, selling it ten years later after he had grown his start-up to a multinational company which employed 500 people.

It wasn’t always plain sailing, and he told the students that there were times which were terrifying, but he found the fast-moving technology sector fascinating and explained that he now employs people in roles that didn’t even exist three years ago.

His newest venture still has a link to his background in medicine, and as CEO to an AI health technology company he has created something which makes a difference to people’s lives. Starting a business from scratch is hard work and as Mark employs people in the United States, it is not uncommon for him to start his day at 9am and still be working at 7pm at night when his colleagues in the U.S. start their day.

Mark finished his presentation by encouraging the students to do something that they enjoy, as this will probably mean that they are also good at it. He also encouraged them to take advantage of opportunities that come their way and to find a role that gives them personal satisfaction.

We would like to thank Mark for his engaging presentation and his insight into life as an entrepreneur.