‘A Day in the Life  .........’

Following the Careers Fare at the Pickaquoy Centre in August, NHS Orkney in partnership with Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) Orkney, developed an insight session for senior phase pupils at secondary schools which took place on Friday 5 October.

The ‘A Day in the Life .......’ event was designed to help pupils who had expressed an interest in a career in the health profession gain a better understanding of what is involved in  various roles.

The event took a ‘hands on’ approach, offering students the chance to participate in activities that clinicians do in a normal days work.

There were 13 different professional careers attending the event, such as nursing, paramedics, medicine, radiography and physiotherapy. 51 pupils from KGS, Stromness Academy and Sanday Junior High School came along to speak to the clinicians, learn more and gain practical experience.   

Rachel Scarth, Project Manager at DYW Orkney and Sylvia Campbell, Clinical Education Facilitator at NHS Orkney were delighted with the success of the event.  Rachel said “This is the first event of this type to be held in Orkney and we were delighted with the response of the clinicians, young people and schools.”  Sylvia said “We hope to hold similar events in the future to give young people further insight and support in to what opportunities exists locally and further afield within the health profession.”  

Mark Berry, Guidance Teacher at Stromness Academy, said:  “The event really gave the pupils a flavour of what it would be like to work in the various health professions and the speakers at each station were so enthusiastic and informative.  The feedback from the pupils has been extremely positive and hopefully we will see that this has helped our pupils in moving forward in their chosen career path.”

Pictured from left to right are members of the organising team: Lynne Spence, Practice Education Lead for AHP, Andy Brewer, Resuscitation Officer/Clinical Skills Facilitator, Natasha Stacy, Admin, Rachel Scarth, Project Manager DYW Orkney, Sylvia Campbell, Clinical Education Facilitator and Pamela Hutcheon, Student Co-ordinator. Missing from photo Sharlene McAlister, Admin