Over one hundred young people attended a careers fair on Wednesday evening, 6th March, at the Royal United Hospital in Bath, seeing what future careers were available to them in the NHS.
Students in year 10 and above from local schools and colleges were invited to meet staff, learn about working life at the hospital and have a go at some hands-on activities.
The RUH Trust’s Widening Participation team, who work with local schools, colleges and their students, were on hand to give careers advice and information on apprenticeships, work experience and volunteering opportunities available at the hospital.
Widening Participation Adviser Lilly Webb said: “We’ve had an overwhelming response to this event, with places being fully booked in in record time. It’s a great opportunity for all students to discover their options within the NHS.
“We always try to showcase a variety of roles, from those which people will be more familiar with such as nurses, therapists and doctors to vital behind the scenes roles such as pathology, pharmacy, estates and administration.
“It was great to see how enthusiastic the students were, asking lots of questions and getting involved with the activities. We hope this event has inspired some of them to pursue NHS careers and enabled them to take the right steps in order to do so.”
During the evening, pupils had the chance to take part in a variety of hands-on activities and observe live demos including suturing (stitching) of wounds on artificial training limbs with Medical Students, looking at histology samples through microscopes with Healthcare Scientists, trying their hand at digital dictation with Medical Secretaries and wiring a plug with the Estates Team.
One student attendee said: “It was great to get the chance to speak to so many different RUH staff in such a wide range of roles and understand more about what they do, everyone was really friendly and helpful, I’ll definitely be applying for work experience and volunteering soon.”
As one of the largest employers in the region, the RUH is committed to highlighting the many opportunities available to young people, both within the Trust and the wider NHS.
The event was supported by staff from the University of the West of England, Bath University and Project Search.
For more info about apprenticeships, work experience and volunteering at the RUH, visit: http://www.ruh.nhs.uk/careers/.