Welcome Merve Karacaoğlu at Itémedical

“Itémedical has an honorable mission: they can make a meaningful difference in people’s lives with their medical alarm solution.”

Merve Karacaoğlu joined the team in February 2023 for her traineeship. Merve studies at the UCLL in Leuven for her Advanced bachelors in International Management. Her roots lie in Turkey, but she always wanted to expand her horizon. Itémedical is expanding internationally with its alarm management solution and Merve came in at the right time.

Read more about Merve’s ambitions for the coming period.

Itémedical: can you tell us more about your background so far?
Merve: “I studied in Turkey and did my graduate bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering which mainly focusses on optimizing companies processes. After graduating, I worked at an international retail company where I looked for sales potentials: which products were the most suitable as customer behaviour differed considerably from country to country. I also made sales forecasts and developed dashboards for another company as a planning & data analysis specialist. As I always wanted to expand my degrees and experience as many things as possible before it was getting too late, I looked for an international study program abroad and ended up in Leuven.”

Why did you choose Leuven for your study?
“It was more or less a coincidence. I received positive feedback: it was a great place for students and the UCCL (University Colleges Leuven-Limburg) is well-known.

How did Itémedical come to you?
“The UCCL had an outstanding request for a research project and Itémedical offered one. They had a project idea in mind which matched with my study and interests. However, one of the things that really made me do this project is that Itémedical has an honourable mission. They can make a meaningful difference in people’s lives with their medical alarm solution. After an interview with Nele Wuytens, we agreed to do this project together.”

What is your traineeship about?
“Itémedical is expanding internationally. I am going to analyze which markets are attractive for Itémedical in Europe. My focus lies on the MediScore Medical Device Data Gateway solution. When I have finalized this analysis and have some time left, I will look at what other parts in the world might be of interest for expanding the alarm management solution. In the UK Emily Baker already started sharing amongst the healthcare industry what problems Itemedical Ltd can solve for healthcare professionals.”

What can we expect from you, what is your plan?
“My plan consists out of two main parts. First, I am going to make a country attractiveness analysis. Second, I will investigate and analyze different entry modes for the most attractive markets as a result of the first part. I will define a list of criteria which are important for the business of Itémedical. Then I am going to do some calculations to select the right market by ranking which country is the most appropriate up to the least appropriate one. I will end up with possible entry strategies as no single market entry strategy works for all markets.”

What are you most looking forward to?
“One of my biggest goals is to investigate what market entry strategy works for which country. Another challenge which I will be facing: it might be hard for me to comment or mention something I am far away from. I’m not physically in the country to understand and analyze every aspect of it as it is mainly a desk research.”

Besides your traineeship, Merve, can you tell us something more about yourself?
“Well, in my free time I like to spend time with my friends in Leuven and my family in Turkey. I like to join social events, meeting people and going to concerts and the theatre. And I really like travelling. I always have a next destination in my head to travel to. In this case, a trip to Portugal, the Algarve. :-)”