On the 24th of January, Jo McNamara (Senior Lecturer and AHP Admissions Tutor) and Belle Fletcher (Senior Schools and Colleges Engagement Officer – Health and Wellbeing) headed to Newcastle armed with Sheffield Hallam University merchandise and buckets of enthusiasm to promote the amazing Health and Social Care courses on offer from the University.
The week-long series of roadshows turned out to be a great success; taking in four schools and colleges and engaging with nearly 250 people!
Feedback from Students:
“Talkers/Speakers were amazing. They were very Engaging. Found out about the courses at Sheffield Hallam”
“Informative. Good that is focused on options other than medicine”
“Really useful and really opened my eyes about other universities. Definitely considering Sheffield Hallam!”
Hot on the heels of the school and college events, Jo and Belle in partnership with Radiotherapy staff and students, hosted an open evening at the Radiotherapy department in Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital. Students, inspired by what they’d heard at the roadshows, came from far and wide – also bringing along enthusiastic friends and family to learn more about Radiotherapy and Healthcare professions.
“It’s great to have the support from our clinical managers to open up the department and promote what Radiotherapy is. The opportunity helps to educate people and hopefully inspire people to become future healthcare professionals.”
“Of the schools and colleges visited, only one student knew what a Therapeutic Radiographer does, and nobody knew what an Operating Department Practitioner was. This shows just how important it is that we take our passion, knowledge and opportunities out of traditional academic and clinical settings and into people’s lives. If we can inspire just a few to choose Sheffield Hallam to study for a career in Health and Social Care, then it’s well worth the effort.”
“It was really encouraging to see students who had their minds set on pursuing nursing or medicine, actually start to reconsider and think more openly about other professions they didn’t know existed.”
Helen Best, Interim Dean, noted that radiotherapy is a subject at risk of under recruitment nationally which will potentially result in an undersupply of workforce. The Faculty invests in supporting the outreach activity that Jo and Belle are delivering, such as this work in Newcastle, which has a positive impact on our ability to recruit to target, something other HEIs find more challenging. HEFCE have recently announced a Strategic Interventions in Healthcare Education Disciplines (SIHED) project, again which identifies radiotherapy as one of four vulnerable professions. We aim to work with the College of Radiographers, other professional bodies and other HEIs to further enhance our recruitment practices and enabling us to share our excellent practice nationally.
You can read more news from the Department of Allied Health Professions here.
