Local Lower Sixth and Year 11 Students Enjoy Hands-On Medicine Experience

We were delighted to welcome Lower Sixth (Year 12) and Year 11, aspiring medical students from seven local schools to our Memorial Hall on Wednesday 1 May for an interactive workshop with Operating Theatre Live.

Organised by our Head of Higher Education and Careers, Louisa Piercy, and Senior School Assistant Head (Partnerships), Emma Bowater, 47 students from Birchwood High School, Hockerill Anglo-European College, Leventhorpe School, St Mary’s Catholic School, The Bishop’s Stortford High School, The Hertfordshire & Essex High School and Science College, and Passmores Academy joined 13 of our own Lower Sixth aspiring medics for the opportunity to further their knowledge of the human body and gain first-hand experience of a career in medicine.

As seen on the Discovery Channel and BBC Two, Operating Theatre Live brings a real operating theatre to life inside school doors. The organisation has 12 years’ experience of getting students into medical careers, and 44 combined years of teaching anatomy and physiology and national partnerships with schools.

Throughout the day, students worked with the company’s clinical team, learned how to scrub up, charted the treatment of a patient from incident to trauma surgery, and carried out several organ dissections and surgical procedures. Alongside brain, eye, gastric tract, pulmonary-thoracic, and cardio-thoracic dissections, students also learned about anaesthetics, infection control, medical ethics, and clinical work experience.

Tailored specifically to those interested in pursuing a career in medicine, the workshop allowed students to enhance their understanding of A Level biology and build experience and skills which can be used in their university applications and personal statements.

72% of the 60 participating students agreed they felt the workshop added to their work experience and would recommend the opportunity to other students. 62% said they were able to make links between the experience and their A Level biology specification, and 56% felt the experience would enhance their UCAS application.

We hope to continue to provide opportunities of a similar nature to local students in the future.

*Note* some images in the scroller below are of dissections and are therefore graphic.