Students aim to inspire with insight into Radiography

Two final year Diagnostic Imaging students are using their knowledge and expertise to help school pupils learn more about the world of Radiography.

Catherine Mackay and Stuart Coombes both visited their former high schools in the last year and spoke to pupils in fourth, fifth and sixth year.

They’ve now delivered their session on numerous occasions and even managed to get some of their current year group involved in also spreading the world about the benefits of a potential career in Radiography.

We sat down with Catherine and Stuart to find out more about what they’ve been up to:

So just to start us off, how did this opportunity all come about?

Catherine: “The first time I got involved was actually a one off thing. I’m from up past Inverness and my school, Dingwall Academy, got back in touch with me to say that some of their students wanted to hear about career options. I’d been telling everyone how great Radiography is, so I was definitely happy to get that opportunity!

“I went back up there last year on World Radiography Day to do a short presentation I made myself. It basically gave them an insight into the profession and also showcased GCU as the number one place to study it. The actual presentation is quite content heavy at the start in terms of the grades you need and what we do – there’s a lot of words getting thrown about! However, we always finish it off with seven or eight different case studies; things like nasty fractures, CT scans…basically all the cool stuff! Everyone’s always impressed by that.

“We also did the talk at a GCU Open Day for students who were actually considering doing Radiography already – that was basically the starting point for us doing more of them.”

Stuart: “At the end of the Open Day we actually said ‘why don’t we keep doing this?’  We then put the feelers out to a few folk within our year and told them we were planning to do an outreach programme. We ended up with six or seven people who were still in contact with their school and offered to spread the word.”

Stuart, why did you want to get involved and what schools have you visited?

Stuart: “I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I left school and felt completely lost. I obviously ended up studying Diagnostic Imaging and I just think it’s absolutely great. I want other people to benefit from this and I also like mentoring and working with people to pass on my knowledge. It’s a big win for me and getting to do it has been just amazing. It’s brilliant fun.

“All my visits have been organised through word of mouth. My little brother’s still at my old school so I went in and explained what I was hoping to do. One of the teachers said she was running careers sessions and was very keen for us to join them – it all just snowballed from there. So far, I’ve visited Clyde Valley in Wishaw and Our Lady’s in Motherwell. We’ve got a few in the pipeline and we’re hoping to go out towards Edinburgh in the new year.”

Catherine: “Stuart’s a lot more locally connected than me, I’ve only got connections miles away! I think it sometimes helps people that age meeting someone else who has actually uprooted their whole life and moved to Glasgow. Even if they don’t want to do Radiography it still shows that they can go off and do something they enjoy.”

You’re both obviously in your final year, was that something playing on your mind given all the commitments you’re already dealing with?

Catherine: “Stuart and I have both taken on a lot of extracurricular activities, which is great for the CV, but we also just enjoy doing it. It’s nice because it takes your mind off deadlines.

“The other thing is that Stuart and I are both very interested in promoting the profession, but overall there’s a nice group of us now that can share the responsibility and avoid becoming too stressed!”

So do you think you’ve managed to inspire any future Radiographers?

Stuart: “I would hope so. I’ve definitely seen a few people lean forward in their seats when I’ve been talking about it, so there is interest! The main thing is helping school pupils realise they have options.

“I always pose it as a question and say: ‘If you were to name me three health professions, what would they be?’ It’s always Doctors, Nurses, Physiotherapists, but there are so many different professions out there within healthcare.”

Catherine: “I think the big thing for me is just helping clarify what Radiography actually is. I also like the fact when they go into the hospital and get a scan they’ll know it’s not a Doctor or a Nurse taking their scan, it’s a Radiographer.”

You’re also keen to get the message out that anyone can get involved in Radiography….

Catherine: “Definitely! GCU’s very good because there is a high percentage of mature students within the health school. I think the average age in our course is probably late-20s. A lot of people have come to it later in life. They’ve either been a patient themselves or they’ve worked in a hospital setting and realised it’s a job they’d quite like to do.

“We also try to get across to the students that even if they go away and study something completely different they can still come back to Radiography. There’s now a MSc Diagnostic Radiography (Pre-registration) degree, which is a massive help as well because it means people can complete the course in two years rather than four.”

You’re heading towards the end of your degree now, what have you taken from the whole experience?

Stuart: “I think the biggest thing I’ve taken from this is that people are interested in this as a topic. It also benefits me because I realise that I do actually know what I’m talking about. It gives you that sense of self-pride that this is my job, this is what I’m going to do.”

Catherine: “The four years have just flown by for me. I remember being that first year and looking at fourth years and thinking how am I ever going to get there.

“You come to realise that you actually know what you’re talking about and know so much more than you think you do. It’s one thing actually putting it into practice but explaining it to other people who have no idea is different. It’s been such a positive experience and having a love for the job definitely makes such a difference.”

Find out more about the BSc Diagnostic Imaging course here

By Ross Clark      
Got an SHLS or GSBS story? Email me at Ross.Clark@gcu.ac.uk or message me on Twitter