Joanna Andrew, Network Lead for Blood Sciences, gives a special guided tour of her trust’s Biomedical Science Day activities.
Within Scarborough, Hull and York Pathology Service (SHYPS) we feel that promoting and engaging with Biomedical Science Day is important. It’s a reminder to our colleagues of how important our role is within healthcare and gives pride to their job.
Therefore, we actively encourage staff to engage in the day and last year the Scarborough Biochemistry team won the “Best group workplace photo” competition (see picture).
By working together and sharing ideas the department had a great time creating a photo that best represented our new SHYPS pathology network. Other previous events in Hull have included job posters demonstrating the different roles in pathology, public engagement promoting what we do and competition entries, including a winning meme submitted by the Hull haematology team in 2018.
We have some very creative and passionate biomedical scientists in the department who enjoy the challenge.
One entry was a 3D model of the York biochemistry department Roche pre-analytics and 8000 lines with working parts, all made from laboratory supplies.
Participating in the Biomedical Science Day competitions really helps with team bonding, engagement and motivation of staff and develops a passion for the profession. While creating the entries it creates a fun atmosphere within the laboratory and lots of smiles.
Over the years there have been some amazingly inventive competition entries – the individual photos, memes and videos showcasing the diversity of our role and that of Biomedical Science Day have helped to promote the profession and the work we do for our users. It highlights that we work hard but we can also have fun!
This year, we will be trying to win another trophy, with the Scarborough Hospital Biochemistry team performing an important scientific experiment to determine which biscuit is the best dunker (an area of critical science) and which biomedical scientist will be crowned biscuit-dunking champion by dunking a biscuit the longest without it breaking (look out for the winning biscuit on our competition entry). York Biochemistry team will be converting a part of the laboratory into a dance floor and seeing who has the best dance move!
In Hull we will be having a stand promoting biomedical science careers. The stand will be located in the main entrance at Hull Royal Infirmary with good footfall. We will also be hosting a competition where visitors to the stand can try and guess how many people handle a sample. There will be three samples in total: one for blood sciences, one for cellular pathology and one for microbiology. The sample pathway will be tweeted throughout the day, so entry winners can increase their chances of winning by following us on Twitter #SHYPS_pathology.
Three winners will be selected; each will receive a SHYPS goodie bag (includes IBMS freebies) and a VIP laboratory tour for themselves plus a guest. The laboratory tour will take place during national pathology week, followed by a short interview of their experience.
To promote Biomedical Science Day in the wider community, we will be doing some fun science experiments with our local Beavers group. It’s important to engage with children and get them interested in science as soon as possible and how some simple fun experiments, e.g. pH testing, can have real practical applications in healthcare.
Finally, a special thanks to Emma Lovie, Rick Lovie, Marie Kirby and Trudy Walker who are all key in making Biomedical Science Day so fun and successful.