In October, Loreto’s Biology students participated in an exciting workshop exploring various careers in healthcare and auxiliary fields related to A-level biology. During the session, students learned about a wide range of careers and had the opportunity to use different medical equipment relevant to these roles. For example, students had the chance to use an ultrasound machine to look at their growth plates and many discovered that they still had some growing left to do! They also recorded their electrocardiogram (ECG) to observe the electrical activity of their heart and received a printout to keep.

Students loved the chance to use a real needle to take blood from a phlebotomy training arm, inspiring some to consider further training in phlebotomy for part-time work or to gain more experience for their university applications. They also tried using laparoscopic instruments to perform simple keyhole surgery tasks, allowing them to test their dexterity under pressure. There was much more to explore, including stethoscopes, an ophthalmoscope, and an infrared vein scanner, among other tools. This workshop supported the students’ biology studies by applying theoretical knowledge to real-world scenarios and provided valuable experiences to reference in their future applications.