North East Futures UTC Careers Fair

The North East Futures UTC (University Technical College) secondary school Careers Fair is an annual event that allows students to consider options for their future, both from a prospective employer point of view and further education choices.

All students who attended this year were given one-hour slots to attend according to their year group, and local businesses that support the school were also invited to attend. 

One of our members, Tracy Matheson-Smith, attended the careers fair to run the IBMS stand. She was accompanied by a Spire colleague who works in pharmacy, so the two put together a combination of Spire banners and a selection of IBMS posters to cover our table.

Alongside posters and leaflets, Tracy crafted a pretend blood sample, complete with a barcoded label that contained the prerequisite minimum identifiers. The 'pretend sample' was made from a 2-litre pop bottle with the lid painted, to look like an EDTA sample containing 'platelets' (in reality, red-dyed cheerios and mini marshmallows). There was also an information sheet, explaining the number of red and white blood cells, platelets and haemoglobin levels, while students were invited to guess these amounts put in the bottle (with a prize for the student with the closest answer!).

Tracy comments on the day: 

"I was pleasantly surprised by the number of attendees that said they were considering Biomedical Science as a degree. I explained the many different roles available in the field, and the kids seemed to like the fact that this one decision to do BMS at university did not pigeon hole them to only work in a lab for the rest of their lives. I also had the chance to explain how varied the role of a biomedical scientist can be in a laboratory - depending on the lab, the discipline and the functions of the hospital."

If you are running an event related to the biomedical sciences, a great way to keep us informed live is to post to our social media channels: Facebook.com/BiomedicalScience or Twitter.com/IBMScience