Simeon Ramet BSc (Hons) PgDip RD is the Head of Paediatric Medical Affairs at Nutricia, where he is responsible for leading a team working on the Paediatric range of products across the consumer and healthcare business. Simeon describes how his passion for problem-solving is vital in his day-to-day work, and how the Nutricia Dietetic App has become indispensable to HCPs.

I graduated from university with a degree in Applied Nutrition and moved on to undertake my PgDip Dietetics course to become a Registered Dietitian; I then worked in the NHS for a few years before joining Nutricia in 2005. I’ve been here for 20 years and am now the Head of Paediatric Medical Affairs having done a number of roles across adult and paediatrics, but I’ve never strayed from the Medical Affairs team.

I lead a team across the UK and Ireland that includes nutritionists, dietitians and an events manager. The Medical Affairs team in short are the glue that brings together research and innovation with marketing and sales. Our job is to translate complex scientific messages into meaningful, interesting communications which accurately describe our products and services. We’re also the eyes and ears of the healthcare professional world - keeping in touch with our HCP colleagues in clinical practice and very much helping the business to understand how and why HCPs might feel when they use our products and services.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of my role has been travelling the world to meet a wide variety of Nutricia colleagues and different HCPs. I love going to international congresses and speaking to people about how things are done in different countries - that is a really interesting element of the work. Another aspect I enjoy is how rewarding it is helping others to overcome barriers, for example working on new innovations or even improving day-to-day work flow - seeing how you can find solutions that make processes (and people) work better. The most important thing is being able to do work that keeps you interested, and the opportunities to travel and learn from others in my field and apply my knowledge to overcoming challenges is really important to me. 

I think Nutricia is one of the few medical nutrition companies to still be doing the level of face-to-face educational events that we offer. It’s important for healthcare professionals to be able to leave their day jobs behind for a day or two and learn something new, meet some of the team at Nutricia and see what the latest trends are. The feedback we get at these events is how much healthcare professionals value these events. Be it the Nutricia Paediatric Symposium or the Nutricia Annual Congress the feedback is overwhelmingly positive. What is also so important for these events is we video so much of the content and then make those videos available to healthcare professionals on Nutricia Academy. It gives us an opportunity to widen the education that our amazing healthcare speakers bring to these events. 

One of the projects that I am especially proud of is leading the development of the Nutricia Dietetic App. This is an app that helps dietitians in their day-to-day work - enabling them to devise regimens and select the most suitable product. Working on digital projects like this is one of my passions. Because it’s an area that enables us to make things more efficient both for HCP and ourselves and to continuously work to improve our digital innovation. It’s about listening to what HCPs want from the Dietetic App. Our philosophy in terms of digital products like the Nutricia Dietetic App is that it’s our job to change the market, rather than just follow it. 

Every development of the App since its launch has been led by feedback from healthcare professionals. We originally ran a number of user experience workshops to find out what did and didn’t work in the original version of the App, and then we tested new concepts. So in the latest versions of the app we have added a comparison view; this means that HCPs can compare up to four different products in one view, clearly showing each product’s allergens and patient suitability and the whole range of nutrient information . All of the new developments that have been implemented - and all upcoming developments - have come directly from HCP feedback, and it has really made the App indispensable. Dietitians can get all the information they need from the Dietetic App without having to wonder if they have the most up to date paper compendium and as it has all the calculators you need to devise adult and paediatric regiments so it’s a critical day to day tool for HCPs

It’s so rewarding to see the projects, products, innovations and services that we’ve worked on over the years becoming so valued - and sometimes, you only realise how important certain services are when something goes wrong. When the Dietetic App had a glitch during one Christmas period we were inundated with queries from dietitians saying that they couldn’t do their job properly and they needed the App. It’s in those moments that you realise just how important the services and products you provide are, and how vital it is to get them back online immediately. 

I’ve also recently re-taken the reins of the Nutricia Resource Centre. We’ve got a new team of experts taking calls and emails on the range of products we offer at Nutricia and it’s great to see the service back in the Medical Affairs team. We take thousands of enquiries each year and we’ll be making some exciting improvements in the coming months to really help HCPs get the assistance they require. The main thing we are focusing on now is the responsiveness to queries; ensuring we answer fast and first time (if possible!). The Nutricia Resource Centre has been an integral part of our service offering so look out for the official relaunch coming soon!

It’s very important to be reminded about the end goal of all the work you do on a daily basis; ultimately our  patients absolutely rely on the products and services that Nutricia provides, and that we as a team strive to produce to the highest possible standard. Over 20 years I’ve never seen that commitment from the whole Nutricia team waver, and that’s something I’m very proud to be a part of. 

To read more stories from the team at Nutricia, click here.