Sheffield Hallam University inspires guides and scouts to take up a career in healthcare

Beaver Noah McNamara, six and his friend Jacob Brashaw, eight, pictured in their scrubs, prepping for theatre. Pictures: Marie Caley

The youngsters visited Sheffield Hallam University on Thursday to take part in a Skills Lab event, designed and run by academics and students in the university’s faculty of health and wellbeing.

The youngsters took part in workshops where they got the opportunity to work with therapeutic radiographers using a virtual learning environment and also learnt how to carry out tasks including using a respiratory physio assessment tool to listen to the lungs and taking x-rays of different objects with university diagnostic radiographers.

Michelle Paddey, operations department pratitioner student, pictured with children from Blackamoor Brownies

The university’s operating department practitioners opened up the theatre where they were able to learn how to incubate a patient.

They also got to work with the university's learning disability and social work nurses where they were given specialised glasses to learn what it is like to have different severities of visual impairment.

Jo McNamara, senior lecturer in radiotherapy and oncology at Sheffield Hallam, said: “We’re really passionate about motivating and inspiring the next generation of healthcare professionals and this event is about reigniting people’s passion for a career in healthcare.

"The girl guides and scouts have core values that are similar to those we look for in applicants to our health courses, such as caring, inclusivity, passion and compassion.

"We want to educate future allied health professionals, nurses and social workers about the skills they need as well as showcase the fun ways in which we train the future NHS workforce.”