Biomedical Science teaching, training and practice

Many years ago… 1994 to be exact I started on my journey to become a Biomedical Scientist. I was undertaking my A levels in Biology, Chemistry and Geology with the view to attend university to study Biomedical Science. If you talk to people in the profession, some of us fall into this career or others like me have a strong interest in biology and healthcare but don’t feel able or inclined to study medicine. Personally I just felt the responsibility for diagnosing and treating patients was just too much responsibility which in hindsight is contradictory considering between 70-80% of diagnosis are made by clinical laboratory healthcare professionals and as I would come to respect a biomedical scientist has just as much responsibility to getting it right as any clinician.

Anyway – way back in 1994 I was fortunate enough to gain four weeks of work experience during my first and second years at college. This taster session in a Clinical Biochemistry lab cemented my career ambitions and come university application time I was set on a degree which would lead me to state registration as an medical laboratory scientific officer (MLSO) which has come to be known as the current HCPC registered Biomedical Scientist.

Luckily for me my work experience proved to be fundamental in helping me achieve my career goals. After successfully securing a place at Nottingham Trent University on their full-time course in 1995, I learned of a trainee MLSO post within Nottingham City Hospital where not 9 months before I had completed work experience. Through a mixture of enthusiasm for the role, interview prep and experience I received an offer of the job. So in 1996 I left full time education after one year at NTU, to continue studying part time at Sheffield Hallam University while completing my training logbook in the lab (very similar to the apprenticeships we see today).

The next few years were a slog, to train, juggle shifts, home life and study takes dedication, hard work and perseverance, not to mention family support and understanding. I graduated in 2000 now married and with a 3 month old son. Next was the prep for the registration viva, which I successfully undertook later that year. It had taken me 4 and half years from starting my degree to complete my training.

Although always grateful to Nottingham for the training opportunity, I moved to Derby Hospital in 2001 to continue my professional training and to study a part time MSc in Biomedical Science back at NTU. My daughter was born one week after my final MSc presentation. With my family complete, it was time to consider where next. During my 14 years at Derby we saw many changes from a new build hospital, dwindling funding for training Agenda For Change, support staff NVQs and the development of the IBMS registration portfolio, specialist portfolio and higher specialist diplomas. During my time at Derby, my professional development included a post graduate certificate in teaching, learning and assessment, an NVQ assessor qualification and the HSD in Clinical Chemistry. It was a mixture of these qualifications which lead to my training lead role at Derby and my developing passion for supporting the career development of students and colleagues. I became an IBMS CPD officer and assessor for the IBMS to support best practice in my training role. However, despite ambition and development. a senior post eluded me in this trust and I moved to a band 7 post at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham in 2015.

As a senior, I thrived on the leadership challenge and responsibility but I missed the active role in training that I lost when moving from Derby. So to enhance my professional development, I sought extra roles within the IBMS. It was during my time at QE that I began guest lecturing at Coventry University and gained an IBMS advisory panel role.

Several years of commuting and night shifts as a senior member of staff started to impact on family life and so I started to consider my next career move. This was when the Senior Lecturing position became available back at my university NTU. They were developing a Level 6 Healthcare Practitioner apprenticeship with the view to launch in 2018. This was going to be perfect. Not only could I go back to teaching and training but also cut my commute and stop the nights.

This was four years ago and I haven’t looked back. Yes I miss the lab but my passion for developing the next generation of Biomedical Scientists, the time I have to support healthcare professionals and colleagues in their professional development and the time I can dedicate to promoting the profession ensures I love my job. I still consider myself a Biomedical Scientist first, before a lecturer, I would pick up a blood tube and QC in a heartbeat but not at the expense of my current role.

I am course lead to our apprenticeship, I assess for the IBMS and the Science Council and I am just beginning to impact on sustainability education in both my university and the wider profession. I get to teach Biomedical Science, train healthcare laboratory professionals and influence the quality of Biomedical Scientists nationwide. I hope that my enthusiasm and passion, drive an ethos that good quality training, equals quality practice and this blog will help me with this aim.

So thank you for reading and I hope to see you again. My plan is to share information, discuss key topics and support you and your colleagues achieve you own development and career aspirations. Please feel free to share you own career journeys to help inspire future and current trainees.

For other blog posts please visit https://teachtrainandpracticebiomed.uk/blog/