Over the summer, I had the brilliant opportunity to work as a Junior Software Engineer at Simple Online Healthcare, a digital health and telemedicine company helping people access healthcare in a more flexible and modern way. I joined through the Saltire Scholars Programme while studying BA (Hons) Game Design and Production at Abertay University, and the experience has changed the way I think about my future.
When I first applied to the Saltire Scholars Programme, I wanted to expand my horizons. I was hoping to find new opportunities, gain real industry experience, meet new teams, and learn from people with knowledge I did not yet have. Coming from a games design and production background, I had built a mixture of creative and technical skills, but I was not completely sure where those skills could take me outside of university.
Simple Online Healthcare gave me an answer I did not expect. The role took me in an entirely new direction, but one I have found genuinely enjoyable and exciting. I spent the summer working across frontend development, website testing, bug fixing, and internal AI tooling. Although I had some coding experience before starting, I quickly realised that professional software engineering asks for a different level of structure, communication, and attention to detail. It was a steep learning curve, but one that I was supported through from the beginning.
A large part of my work focused on helping prepare and improve the frontend of Kin, Simple Online Healthcare’s new site and members area for weight loss patients. This included working on user interface tests, improving test coverage, fixing bugs across the website, and helping ensure that user journeys were working as expected. I also worked on synthetic tests, which helped check that important user interactions were properly managed and behaved consistently.
One of the things I am most proud of is contributing to improved test coverage and helping the site meet company standards. Before this internship, I would not have imagined myself working confidently on professional testing, automation, or production-facing web experiences. By the end of the summer, I had helped strengthen the baseline for the team, making it easier for current and future developers to maintain quality and keep coverage above expected standards.
Alongside the website work, I also wrote multiple AI skills, guidance documents, and knowledge bases for the team. These were designed to make AI tools easier and safer to use across projects, while helping developers follow company standards more consistently. I found this especially rewarding because it combined technical thinking with communication, structure, and empathy for other people using the tools.
The most memorable part of the internship was seeing the new Kin site reach production after being in progress since before I joined. Knowing that I had contributed to something real, useful, and connected to returning customers made the work feel meaningful. It was also exciting to be part of a company with real momentum, especially one recently recognised in the Sunday Times 100 as one of Britain’s fastest-growing private companies.
The people at Simple Online Healthcare made a huge difference to my experience. My mentor, Mikey Smith, who is also the company’s CPTO and interviewed me for the role, has been a constant source of support. He has helped me with everything I could possibly need, from technical questions to professional development. The wider team, including Sergio Okonkwo, who is also a Saltire Scholar, made daily standups feel welcoming and useful. Those meetings were not just about catching up on work, but also about building genuine professional relationships and feeling part of the team.
One area I found especially challenging was backend API work. It was new to me, and at first it felt outside my comfort zone. However, with regular check-ins, clear communication, and support from the team, I was able to work through problems and get things functioning. That gave me a real sense of accomplishment. It also taught me that being a good developer is not about already knowing everything. It is about asking good questions, learning steadily, and being willing to keep going when something is difficult.
This internship has helped me grow both personally and professionally. My technical skills have taken a massive leap, and my understanding of coding principles, testing, teamwork, and professional standards has improved dramatically. More importantly, I have become more confident in myself. I now have a clearer understanding of what I want from my future and what kind of environment helps me do my best work.
I am very grateful that this opportunity does not end with the summer. I will be continuing part time during my fourth year at university, before moving into full time employment afterwards. That outcome means a great deal to me, because I found an industry and role that I may never have broken into without Saltire.
To any student considering applying to the Saltire Scholars Programme, I would say: do it. It is one of the best decisions I have made. It helped me prepare for my future, both professionally and personally, and opened doors I did not know were available to me. Being a Saltire Scholar now means having proof that taking a chance on yourself can lead somewhere better than you expected.
