Proudly celebrating our Biomedical Scientists
We’re proudly celebrating Biomedical Science Day (Thursday 9 June), so to find out more about this huge and wide-ranging field, we spoke to some of our team at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s (BWC) to find out more about their roles and why they are so passionate about what they do.
First of all, what is biomedical science?
James Taylor, Manager of our Blood Sciences laboratories, said: “Biomedical Science is one of the broadest areas of modern science. Specimens are analysed in a wide range of different disciplines including Clinical Chemistry, which analyses body fluid, Haematology, who test blood, Microbiology, look microorganisms like bacteria or fungi, and Histopathology who investigate cells and tissue, as well as Andrology and Molecular Pathology.
“The healthcare laboratories convert what is happening in the body into numbers for the medical teams to diagnose and treat patients.
“Biomedical Scientists help diagnose diseases, monitor the effectiveness of treatment and support research into new ways to treat patients. In the UK alone, Biomedical Science is involved in more than 70 per cent of diagnoses in the NHS, handling around 150 million samples every year.”
“The roles are so varied across Biomedical Science and they suit different personalities. The work across BWC is varied and interesting as we are a specialist referral centre.”
It makes their work a crucial cog in our machine to offer the very best care to our women, children and families, benefitting patients without even meeting them. Our team of around 200 people test a staggering two million samples per year.
Ben Done, Specialist Biomedical Scientist, said: “We are the middle ground between the surgeon and the patient as most of the work in between an operation and the patient getting test results is done by us and often goes unknown. So, a lot of our work is 'invisible' but rewarding and a vital part of the process.”
James added: “Our patients benefit from our work even before they are born. We test to check babies are healthy during pregnancy and screen for rare diseases early in life. We test to understand many different diseases and support emergency medicine and provide safe provision of blood components.”
Many of the samples give of stunning imagery, many looking more like abstract art than living organisms.
James said: “Some of our teams create diagnostics slides which would not be out of place in an art gallery. Our Histology teams stain tissues to help understand what is happening in the body. Our Haematology teams also use stains to help us to see what our blood cells are doing under a microscope”.
Patients often benefit, but what do the scientists themselves get out of their work?
Zaiba Asif, Specialist Biomedical Scientist, said: “I love the idea of knowing that the results I release will be used to make clinical decisions to help with a patient's treatment, diagnosis, as well as figuring out what's going on with them.
“I also like knowing that when I've called out an abnormal result to a doctor or nurse, I'm hopefully enabling them to act on the results quicker; alerting them to begin treatment, which could potentially make a patient better or save their life.”
Chris Charlton, Senior Biomedical Scientist, said: “Generally every day is different. Sometimes there are problems that have to be solved, machines that need to be fixed or results that lead me to learn something new. All of this helps me to be better at what I do and it’s a very rewarding job. You also realise the amount of things that your body does in the background without you having to think about it or do anything.”
So if you were looking to getting into biomedical science, what would our team recommend?
James said: “Follow your curiosity about science and enter a world where no two days are the same and one where you are directly involved in patient care and you will make a difference to the lives of the patients we serve.”