Introducing a new IBMS campaign, which includes videos, flyers, leaflets, posters, web pages and social media posts.
When we asked our membership across the UK to identify what our profession’s biggest challenges and obstacles were, one issue that persistently came up was that it has become increasingly difficult to hire the right staff at the right level. Also, that young people are underinformed about the IBMS routes to Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) registration as a biomedical scientist.
Our idea
In response, we began work on a “Routes to Registration” project to raise awareness of IBMS Accredited degree courses, the IBMS Registration Training Portfolio and the IBMS routes to HCPC registration as a biomedical scientist – helping all relevant people to understand the different routes into the biomedical science profession.
Executive Head of Education Dr Sue Jones:
“In response to member feedback, we are clarifying the entry routes into the profession, so that they are clear and understandable for everyone who wants to become a biomedical scientist. It is essential that we give young people the information they need to make the right decision at the right time.
By providing four different routes to registration, we are enabling colleagues to employ a variety of graduates but ensuring that they all have appropriate skills and education. This project has created accessible and simple information on the different routes to HCPC registration as a biomedical scientist and we want to share these as widely as possible.”
Our process
Putting together a creative brief, we identified the key demographics for our campaign:
- 16–18-year-olds choosing university courses who want to join the biomedical science workforce
- 18–21-year-olds who are studying biomedical science and want to become HCPC-registered biomedical scientists
- 21+ graduates with non-IBMS Accredited degrees who want to know their next steps
- 21+ professionals who are already working at the level of a biomedical scientist but are not HCPC registered.
Once the brief’s objectives and audiences were clear, we produced detailed information about the four routes to HCPC registration that we are approved to deliver. This contains all the information on each of the routes as well as providing advice on next steps towards HCPC registration as a biomedical scientist.
For each of the four key audience groups, we have developed and produced clear and concise content to lead them to more detailed “core content” on the IBMS website. The initial resources include videos, flyers, leaflets, posters, web pages and social media posts.
I hope these films inspire people to be part of the next generation of amazing biomedical scientists
As part of the project, we have trademarked “IBMS Accredited” and create a new logo to promote IBMS Accredited degree programmes, making sure our brand is more identifiable, understandable and uniform across the UK.
Our goals
By informing students, trainees, graduates and young professionals about the relevant IBMS routes to HCPC registration, we want each individual to know that there is an achievable route for them to become a biomedical scientist.
We think it’s important to help every person who wants to become a biomedical scientist to take the necessary steps towards their goal, understand the need for those steps and realise that the HCPC’s Standards of Proficiency are fair and in place for the benefit of public health.
Each video features a route with a different presenter and highlights a track on an animated map
Our outcomes
The main outcome of the project is the production of four short videos that each explain an IBMS route to HCPC registration as a biomedical scientist. The four routes that the HCPC approve the IBMS to deliver are:
- IBMS Accredited degree with integrated IBMS Registration Training Portfolio
- IBMS Accredited degree (without completion of the IBMS Registration Training Portfolio)
- Non-Accredited degree (followed by top ups and the IBMS Registration Training Portfolio)
- IBMS Certificate of Competence by Equivalence
Each video features a route with a different presenter and highlights a track on an animated map, which will also be used in our marketing materials.
For each of the four routes, we have also made 10-second versions that will be of more use for targeted social media advertising campaigns.
For our forthcoming marketing campaign, we will be sharing the videos, social media cuts and printed materials far and wide, which all provide links back to the core content on the IBMS web page www.becomeabiomedicalscientist.com. The aim of the campaign is to improve visibility of the four IBMS routes and to eradicate any misconceptions about how to become a biomedical scientist in the UK.
Biomedical Scientist in Haematology and Blood Transfusion at Barnsley Hospital, who stars in our “IBMS Accredited degree (without training)” video, Hasan Rao, said: “I hope these films inspire people to be part of the next generation of amazing biomedical scientists. I can’t wait to meet and work alongside them!”
Our commitment to our members
The IBMS is run by its members for its members, so it’s important to us that our membership know that their concerns are also our concerns.
We believe that as the professional body for biomedical science, we have a responsibility to enable our future members to make the right choices at the right moments in their lives.
It is our goal to serve our current members as quickly and as providently as possible – helping them to hire the right staff for the right role at the right time.
In the long term, when the content from our Routes to Registration project reaches the right audiences, it will help to alleviate some of the issues our members are facing with staffing and workforce retention. So please keep an eye out for the videos and help to share them on behalf of the biomedical science profession.
Image credit | Cmyk