Year 9 Students Take Part in Medical Workshops

Yesterday, year 9 Oulton Academy students were given the opportunity to take part in some workshops run by Medical Mavericks. The sessions allowed students to learn about career paths within the NHS, healthcare and STEM fields and have some hands on experience with real medical equipment used within the healthcare profession.

Split into groups across the school day, Oulton Academy students were given a talk by two medical students, who had come in to run the Medical Maverick sessions, about the 350 different careers within the NHS and give an overview of how each medical station would work during the workshop. The students were then given the opportunity to try the 6 different stations, covering Basic Medical Observations, Ultrasounds, Keyhole Surgery, Phlebotomy, ECGs and Ophthalmology. The students were instructed how to take blood (using a rubber arm and food colouring dyed water), check if their bones were still growing using an ultrasound, test their patella reflex, thread a shoelace through different pegs using keyhole surgery equipment and much more!

Along with all the practical activities the year 9 students got to experience, they were also given a booklet to fill with information they learnt during the day. Inside, they can also find information about NHS careers, including what GCSE grade each job requires and links to interviews with professionals in each field.

Medical Mavericks have lots of resources on their website that can support students who are interested in careers in the NHS, including post workshop resources for students who show a particular interest in the kit they got to use. This information can be found here: https://medicalmavericks.co.uk/for-students/ and we would encourage parents to have discussions with their child following the event.

If there are any questions about the event or you would like more information, please contact Miss Hinnegan:

m.hinnegan@oultonacademy.org.uk