MSC Trainee Networking Event Review

15th December 2011

West Midlands SHA held an event for 2011 STP trainees and their trainers to bring them together, for the purpose of information sharing and with a particular focus on the ‘elective’ component of the programme due to occur in years 2 or 3 of the programme.

Opening the event, Val Davison, Head of National Healthcare Science School talked about the development of the school and the opportunities for the elective placement. 'MSC - Val Davison'

Jennie Bell and Vera Cerqueira both from the Regional Genetics laboratory gave presentations on their experiences of being a trainer and a trainee on the Genetics STP which commenced in 2010. 'Life as an STP Trainer - Jennie Bell'         'Life as an STP Trainee - Vera Cerqueira'.

Our final presentation was given by Trevor Parker and Alison Warren who both work in West Midlands Trusts predominantly supporting students and trainees and gave an over view of what our trainees can expect in their Trusts to support them over the three years in training.  'Placement Support - Trevor Parker & Alison Warren'.

The rest of the day was spent learning about various science specialities using a Knowledge Cafe format.  A Knowledge Cafe is a workshop which aims to provide an open and creative conversation on a topic of mutual interest with the ultimate aim of sharing ideas and insights and a deeper understanding of the subject and issues involved. The table host or facilitator is the table expert and the workshop participants will ‘sign up’ to hearing about the particular specialism. It is a simple process with no agenda, purely information sharing and an opportunity to ask questions.

The event was well evaluated, with the majority of delegates rating the day as ‘very good’. Delegates particularly rated the networking opportunity, knowledge cafe experience and the presentation by Vera Cerqueira. Some suggestions made via the evaluation process were:

• having information on the function of the school earlier in the training programme
• having some trainer specific tables at the Knowledge Cafe

• more information on the scope of the elective needed 

Delegate quotes from the day:

                “The knowledge café was great.  I learnt about relevant professionalisms I didn’t know existed!”

“Meeting the trainees and getting an idea on how their training was going in comparison to mine.”

“Getting a better idea of the whole programme - hearing from another trainee & trainer”

“A useful day for a training officer”

The MSC team at West Midlands SHA would like to thank all the presenters at the event and the scientists who contributed to the knowledge cafe:

David Pratt, Rehabilitation Engineering – Birmingham Community NHS Trust

Kathy Noble, GI Physiology – Heart of England Trust

Mandy Davis, Neurophysiology – University Hospitals Birmingham

Sarah James, Histopathology – University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire

Louise Lindsay, Online Assessment Tool – NHS Midlands and East

Jennie Bell, Genetics – Birmingham Womens Hospital Trust

Tracy Thurgood, Transfusion Science – NHS Blood and Transplant

Rachel Cleaton, Infection Science – University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire

Steve Smith, Clinical Biochemistry – University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire

Mark Black, Vascular Science – Russells Hall Hospital

Tammy Barker, Audiology – Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust

Joanna Shakespeare, Respiratory and Sleep – University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire

Andy Cousins, Medical Physics – The Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust

Louise Stewart, Stem Ambassadors – NHS Midlands and East

Marie Prices, Cardiology - Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust