Sixth formers given work experience at Arrowe Park Hospital

Aug 13 2008 by Sue McCann, Birkenhead News

AS Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust prepares for its Foundation Awards 2008 to celebrate staff excellence, the News looks at initiatives within the health service in Wirral.

A RARE glimpse into the working lives of hospital staff has left Wirral students with a healthy appetite for a career in medicine.

Arrowe Park Hospital, part of Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, is the only hospital in the North West to offer work experience to sixth formers.

Course organiser, consultant radiologist Dr Joyce Magennis, has been running the week-long scheme for 12 years for students wishing to study medicine at university.

She said: “It is satisfying to be able to give these young people a very relevant work experience placement.

“I started offering the course to sixth formers living in our catchment area in 1996 and it has grown year on year - this year we had 80 students taking part.

“Not all the students will eventually become doctors but the good thing about this course is that there is an opportunity for young people to see other professionals at work, such as radiographers, physiotherapists and biomedical scientists.”

Seventeen-year-old Millie Settle, from Neston, is studying A levels at Neston High School and hopes to go on to study medicine at university.

She took part in a ward round, resuscitation training, outpatient sessions, observed surgical procedures and X-rays, gaining a course certificate for her efforts.

Millie added: “We also had talks from junior doctors and medical students and I was able to watch a surgeon perform an operation which was very interesting and made me seriously consider a career in gynaecology.

“It can be hard to get work experience in a hospital so I’m glad to have had the chance to spend time at Arrowe Park.”