Bo'ness Academy
Tel 01506 822028 | Fax 01506 778801
Falkirk Council
|
Bo'ness AcademyTel 01506 822028 | Fax 01506 778801 |
|
Falkirk Council |
|---|
|
Bo'ness Academy
Tel. 01506 822028
|
In an effort to try to encourage more school pupils towards careers in science, health and medicine Scottish Universities decided to take health and science careers information to schools across the country.
As part of the WHAP programme Bo'ness Academy pupils spend 2 years finding out more about careers in medicine and health care. The scheme was introduced in 2003 with 25 pupils in S3 all of whom took 2 sciences taking part. The aim was to give pupils hands-on experience of practical procedures. As part of the course pupils visited Falkirk Royal Infirmary and were shown round several departments including occupational therapy, pharmacy, physiotherapy and radiography by members of staff. They also had a trip to the Edinburgh Medical School where they became medical students for the day. Towards the end of the course pupils were given one last chance to get "hands-on" at a forensic science workshop led by Dr Deborah Shaw of Edinburgh University. Pupils took swabs from their own cheeks and were able to reproduce samples of their own DNA in a test tube.
While it is too early yet to discover if this project has been effective in encouraging more pupils towards a career in science, health or medicine as the original group are now only in S5 and have still to finalise career choices it was felt that the project was a worthwhile and beneficial experience for the pupils involved. There are currently a group of 28 pupils from S4 involved in the project and they recently spent a day Edinburgh Royal Infirmary learning about career options in the health service. They also visited Easter Bush Veterinary Centre where they toured the animal hospitals. The visit was co-ordinated by Dr Deborah Shaw, project officer for the WHAP medical student recruitment and admissions at Edinburgh University. There is a perception within higher education circles that not enough is being done to attract students from families without a university tradition to consider medicine as a career option. Strenuous efforts are being made through the WHAP project to advise careers staff to work with pupils to encourage them to consider both university entrance and medicine. The visit to the University was an excellent opportunity for pupils to see around the medical and veterinary facilities as well as the science campus and to speak to people involved in these professions. The whole experience is geared to give pupils a hint of what life as a student is like.
Bo'ness pupils at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary |
