Many young Nigerians pursuing a healthcare career are taught to see one path: doctor, nurse or pharmacist. Few are shown the wider world working quietly behind the scenes — the people turning health data into insight, building digital health tools, or using AI to help healthcare systems make better decisions. Okikiola Oyeniyi is one of the people working to change that.

These behind-the-scenes roles are increasingly central to how health systems operate: as hospitals, researchers and health companies work with electronic records and analytics, data and digital have become part of everyday healthcare delivery, not just its clinical front line.

As a Healthcare Data Analyst and Consultant, Oyeniyi operates at the intersection of healthcare, data, research and technology, using data to understand health problems and communicate insights that support better decision-making.

Her route into the field began with a research role at the Centre for Population Health Initiatives, where she contributed to public health research spanning HIV prevention, hepatitis B vaccination, sexually transmitted infections, treatment, health education and digital health interventions.

The work confronted her with questions she could not shake: why people still die from preventable diseases despite available vaccines and treatments, and why access to care can look so different depending on where someone lives — even within the same city.

That curiosity eventually led her into health data analytics and, later, into founding Healfica, a global community advancing healthcare through data, AI, digital health, research and technology. Through Healfica, she is building a space where people can learn, collaborate and explore careers in healthcare technology — an effort rooted in her conviction that a healthcare career does not have to end at the bedside, and that technology offers another way to ask better questions and make better decisions.

Routines, Tools and Rhythm

“My mornings start around 5:30 a.m. with my daily prayer, a cup of warm lemon water, a quick check of my email, a LinkedIn post while connecting with people on there, and setting up my to-do list for the day,” she said.

Her work setup reflects that focus. “My laptop is my main workstation, with my phone beside it for research, content, and everything else happening around my work. I also keep a notebook nearby because I love writing down ideas immediately as they come to me,” she said.

Her toolkit is broad: Microsoft Excel, Power BI, SQL, Python, Google Workspace, Notion, Canva, PowerPoint, Slack, Zoom, ChatGPT, Claude, Zapier and REDCap. Read together, it maps a typical health data stack: Excel and Power BI for analysis and dashboards, SQL for databases, Python for programming and REDCap for capturing research data — alongside collaboration, design and automation tools, and general-purpose AI assistants like ChatGPT and Claude.

When momentum dips, she steps away. “I take a break from work. I tend to look into the future I am building just so I can fall in love with the current process,” she said. “I also study how other people are solving problems and read stories about women building incredible things; it really motivates me to keep going. Sometimes I look into my notes to see my previous research, drafts of ideas, and I immediately pick up something from there.”

Asked which applications she cannot do without, she pointed first to WhatsApp — with reservations. “As much as I don’t like WhatsApp, a lot of my life happens there. My communities, client conversations, work conversations, family, and all,” she said. “I also don’t go a day without my Spotify. I vibe to music every single day; it gives me the energy to work better.”

A Wish for Connected Care

“I wish there were a trusted health access platform that brought healthcare providers, services, health information, and patient pathways into one place,” she said.

“One of the frustrating parts of healthcare is knowing you need help but not knowing where to go, what services are available, which provider to trust, or what the next step should be,” she explained. A well-designed platform, she argued, could help people find the right care faster, help healthcare organisations reach the people who need their services, and make health information easier to understand. Tools like the one she describes fall under care navigation, a strand of digital health focused on helping people find and reach the right services.

If she could solve one problem, Oyeniyi would take on the health tech literacy gap among young people. “Growing up, many of us were taught to think of healthcare careers mainly as becoming a doctor, nurse, pharmacist or another clinical professional. We are not always introduced to the people working behind the scenes in health data, health informatics, digital health, artificial intelligence, research, product development and other areas of technology. I want young people to see these paths earlier,” she said.

Fields like health informatics, digital health and health data science have matured into recognised disciplines with dedicated degree programmes and professional communities — a reality she believes young people should encounter far earlier than the classroom currently allows.

Her answer would be ambitious. “I would build a global platform and ecosystem where young people can learn about different careers in health technology, understand the skills required, meet people already working in those fields, gain practical experience and build with other young people who share the same interests. I believe this will shape the future of healthcare,” she said.

Building Her Own Table

Within Nigeria’s health tech scene, she draws inspiration from Dr Funmi Adewara, Founder of Mobihealth International, a health tech company built around telemedicine — the delivery of clinical services remotely through phones and digital platforms, an approach used to extend care beyond the physical clinic. “I admire what she has built in health tech, especially around telemedicine, health education and access to care,” Oyeniyi said. “She’s literally THE BLUEPRINT. Her work has shown me what it looks like to see a healthcare problem and build technology around it at scale.” That work, she added, goes beyond building a product. “It’s about the bigger question of how technology can make healthcare more accessible to people.”

Oyeniyi carries a guiding principle into her own work: “If you don’t get a seat at the table, build your own table and invite people to sit with you.” It reminds her, she said, that she does not have to wait for someone to create the space she needs — she can build it herself and make sure other people have a place in it too. “That is one of the reasons I started Healfica.”

Asked who she would most like to learn from, she named Dr Valerie Okorie. “I’d love to hear more about her journey, the experiences that shaped her decision to work at the intersection of healthcare and technology, and what she has learned from building in the health tech space,” she said.