Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Hospital were connecting with the next generation of Health Care scientists during Healthcare Science week
Last week (on Tuesday 11 March) our Health Care Scientists took part in a special event at Birmingham Think Tank to celebrate Healthcare Science Week.
The event, which was split into specialities across three zones: Life sciences, Physical sciences and Physiological sciences was designed to support professions with engaging interest from younger generations in the field.
Ruby Birha, Trainee Healthcare Scientist (Neurophysiology) said: “I think it is important to showcase what healthcare science and the speciality does because many people may not know that there are more roles in healthcare beyond what they already know of.
“It helps create awareness of what we do and how we can help patients and their families in terms of diagnosis. The day was really fun and it was good to see everyone come to the stand and interact with the activities we set up for them.”
Schools were invited to meet local healthcare scientists at the event and get some hands-on experience of what the region has to offer for those interested in the speciality.
Tamara Wahid, Clinical Scientist (Neurophysiology) at our Children’s Hospital, who had a stand at the event said:
”At our Neurophysiology stand, we met both creative and scientific minds with activities like the 'Neuron Art' station, an EEG demonstration, and hands-on opportunities for students to apply EEG electrodes on each other."
“It was an interactive experience that sparked conversations about careers in neuroscience.”
Teams representing our Trust at the event promoted career pathways, training opportunities, support recruitment, and apprenticeships and offered interactive learning experiences for local students.
Teachers who brought students to this event were “impressed with the activities and Health Care Science staff engagement with their students ”. Teachers also expressed a “ keen” interest in bringing more students to future events.
Tamara added: “One of my favourite moments was when teachers approached the neuron art stall and took photos as inspiration for their lesson plans.
“It was a great compliment and really highlighted the impact of the day.”
These experiences aimed to foster an early interest and understanding of the role science plays within the healthcare environment and unite the multiple specialties in the system which form this workforce group.