How Aizah Kashif bridged science and storytelling at a startup
Experience Ventures helps biomed student explore entrepreneurship and find her own path
For first-year University of Ottawa biomedical science student Aizah Kashif, a placement arranged through Experience Ventures offered more than resume experience — it was an opportunity to connect within the world of healthcare innovation.
“I saw the listing on one of the pages of our university’s website and I saw all the applications for different kinds of matchup placements,” she says, noting that she eventually found a listing for a medical startup. “It aligned with what I wanted to do, because I wanted more experience in a healthcare area.”
Experience Ventures is a program powered by the Hunter Hub of Entrepreneurial Thinking at the University of Calgary and funded in part by the Government of Canada’s Innovative Work-Integrated Learning Initiative (I-WIL). The program’s goal is to enable college and university students to practice entrepreneurial thinking alongside real-world innovators.
After interviewing and sharing some of her previous work, Kashif was hired as the head of social media marketing for Quip Medical — an application for billing optimization and automated clinical documentation. She soon found herself not just posting content, but also crafting a brand voice and building professional relationships.
“My role was to find topics or current events in the entrepreneurial or healthcare space, create a graphic, and write text in a concise way to grab attention,” she says. “The purpose was to boost the presence that Quip had on LinkedIn and to portray them as a company interested in these fields.”
The posts were published to Quip’s website every two or three weeks.
“Even though I was doing graphic design and marketing, the fact that it was for a healthcare company really attracted me. The second part was reaching out to professionals in the healthcare entrepreneurial area and asking if they wanted to do interviews.”
With aspirations of becoming a doctor with her own practice, those conversations proved to be both inspiring and educational.
“I learned a lot, especially from the physicians. One family doctor helped me see how things actually work, like the reasons behind doctor shortages and burnout. I realized there’s a lot more to it than I thought. I learned that things don’t always go as planned, but can still work out. There’s no one linear path, especially in medicine.”
Kashif’s paid position with Quip continued for six months, with a commitment of 5–10 hours per week that didn’t interrupt her studies.
“I’d prepare questions, get approval, interview, write the article, and make graphics. But I had a lot of creative freedom and independence,” she says. “I just felt like I was really able to flourish and step up. I’d submit to my supervisor, and we had bi-weekly meetings for concerns or new ideas.”
One of the Quip executives she worked with is a medical student and future physician — which is more closely aligned with Kashif’s plans than most of the innovators and start-up founders she interviewed.
“I really want to be a doctor,” she says. “Having my own practice — that is the entrepreneurial aspect I would enjoy,” she explains. “When I see the CEOs I worked with constantly pitching at competitions and networking, that aspect scares me a little bit. Of course, if I wanted my own practice, I might have to dabble in that a little, but the competition aspect is not something I want to do.”
For Kashif, the placement reinforced her passion for medicine while expanding her skill set in unexpected ways.
“I’d recommend Experience Ventures to others. It never felt draining. It felt productive and fulfilling. Interviewing people was gratifying.”
As she prepares for a summer of broadening her academic horizons through courses in sociology and political science, she has her sights set on her future.
“My goal is to get into medical school, finish, have my own practice, and just be able to peacefully see my patients,” she says. “That’s where I want to be.”