Mandy Hill: Director of Academic Publishing: Cambridge University Press (Raise the Line)

Hi, I'm Shivani. Thanks for checking out our raise the line interview series in which me and my cohost osmosis chief Medical Officer Dr Rishi Desai explore how to strengthen our healthcare system with some amazing leaders in medicine, technology, education and government and they have some great advice for people starting careers in healthcare as well.

I hope you'll watch these highlights and then go listen to the full podcast interview wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Shivani and today on Raz line, I'm really happy to be joined by Mandy Hill, who is the managing director of academic publishing at Cambridge University Press where she is, she is responsible for the quality development and performance of the publishing programs worldwide.

Can you start by telling us a bit more about your background and what got you into publishing in the first place? Yeah, certainly.

So I did a degree in biochemistry in university in the UK and knew that I didn't want to do a phd wondered what I was going to do with a degree in biochemistry.

So like many people in the publishing industry, I kind of fell into it without really knowing what I was getting myself into.

But I guess that, you know, the fact that I've been in this industry now 30 years tells you that, that I like it. Um, and it, and it's worked really well for me.

And I think one of the things that, that I was really drawn to, having done a degree in biochemistry and all the way through that I was, I was drawn into the, into the medical sciences.

I was, I felt that with publishing, I was able to use my degree tap into the fact that II love the sciences, the medical sciences, um stay connected to what was going on.

So it was a way for me to stay connected, but without needing to do a phd. And I think that one of the things that I've always enjoyed about having a career in publishing is you are staying connected, but you help, you feel like you're helping inform debates and move things forward to ensure that um people are getting the information they need.

So you feel like you're making a difference. So it's, it's, it's been an incredibly rewarding industry to be part of and it's changed a lot over those 30 years, which has kept it really interesting.

What advice would you give to um to someone considering a career in health care um or even science as a whole to meet the demands of the COVID moment and beyond.

I think it is true for anyone considering a career at all is do something you love. We all have to work so incredibly hard these days.

You know, there isn't a career that you get into, that you're not going to be pushed to your limits to make it something you really enjoy and you feel passionate about.

And I would imagine that that's true for anybody in the healthcare industry that you're in it because you care and you want to make a difference.

But II do think that this is something you have to really enjoy. I think the other thing that, that I've, I've taken from thinking about my career sometimes is, is allowing serendipity to play a part and seeing where that takes, takes you.

Um Because you know, II do think sometimes I've had, I've had really interesting conversations with people at a young point in their career who seem to have it all mapped out and, and you just think life probably isn't going to work that way.

Um So don't be disappointed if things take a different turn, just revel in it and enjoy it. But I take my hat off to somebody who is really embarking on a career in medicine today and committing to make a difference.

I think there's such a need for people who are really trying to do something that is going to improve the health care of a nation.

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