We look back at the annual day to promote the profession, raise awareness among healthcare colleagues and the public and celebrate the amazing work in the sector.
On 8 June, the profession united to celebrate the world’s largest biomedical science awareness campaign – Biomedical Science Day. The day was a huge success, with engagement and awareness reaching deep into Parliament and as high as the top of London’s BT Tower (see below).
The hashtags #BiomedicalScienceDay2023 and #AtTheHeartOfHealthcare got over 20,000 mentions on Twitter, with over 100,000 engagements, and they were seen by an estimated two million people in the UK alone. #BiomedicalScienceDay2023 was trending in the top 10 in the UK throughout the day and peaked at number 6 at lunchtime.
The hashtags were also used in over 1000 Facebook posts, 500 LinkedIn posts and 250 posts on Instagram.
Throughout the day, the IBMS updated followers on what was happening through a live blog, with posts from members and events across the UK.
Supporting members
The IBMS Biomedical Science Day Activity Fund supported 40 members with over £15,000 to use for events promoting biomedical science and the Institute received lots of news and pictures from members at the 300 events that IBMS event packs were sent out to.
Across the UK, communications teams in hospitals and university laboratories handed their social media accounts over to laboratory staff and allowed them to celebrate and inform their followers about the skills and expertise in their practice.
Showcasing science
As part of the IBMS bid to raise awareness of the vital role of biomedical science in healthcare, it ran the annual #AtTheHeartOfHealthcare competitions – encouraging biomedical science staff across the country to celebrate and showcase their workplaces, colleagues, expertise and team spirit to the public.
Competition was fierce and in total more than 600 entries were received from members
As always, competition was fierce and in total more than 600 entries were received from members. Categories ranged from “Best biomedical bake”, to “Best group workplace photo” and “Best Biomedical Science Day artwork”. To view the winners, visit ibms.org/resources/news/biomedical-science-day-2023.
The BT Tower
Chris Wilson, Head of Biochemistry at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s Rapid Response Laboratory, explains how he managed to light up the BT Tower.
“Our lab at 60 Whitfield Street is only a few hundred meters away from the BT Tower and it is something we see everyday at work. I have seen all sorts of messages displayed up there and this year I thought maybe we could get something up there for Biomedical Science Day, as it would be great to get the message on one of the most visible screens in London.
“I had a good search around on the Internet but couldn’t find any information on how to make this happen, so I dropped an email directly to BT explaining what the day was about – how there is a huge workforce of biomedical scientists across the country playing a vital and often unrecognised role in healthcare and the NHS, and how crucial we had all been during the pandemic.
“I didn’t hear anything back for a couple of weeks, but then an email came through to say I had approval to run a message on the tower! I was quite surprised, to say the least – this was only a few weeks before the day, so I didn’t have long to get something together.
“I was sent the specifications of what was needed, which then involved me learning how to create custom animations for the banners, text, and logos. I also had to make sure the video was in the correct format and aspect ratio to fit on the screen, making sure the message would rotate and not overwrite itself – YouTube and Google to the rescue for some quick tutorials on video animation software.
“Then the day came. The first view of the tower I get is as I walk towards Euston Station, I looked up and couldn’t believe it was actually up there on the tower. It looked even better than I had imagined, with the colours of the banner really standing out and broadcasting the message for all to see.
“I’m really pleased with how it turned out and it made a great start to Biomedical Science Day for our team.”
You can also see the large collection of photos IBMS members shared in the photo gallery at bit.ly/BMSday.