British Science Week - the importance of clinical connections

Prior to the accreditation of the Biomedical Science degree courses at Leeds Beckett University (LBU) there wasn’t much connection between LBU and the local NHS Trust. Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTHT) were struggling to employ local graduates with the correct qualification to be trained as HCPC registered Healthcare Scientists and graduates were getting jobs in lower grade roles and having to complete top-up modules at other institutions.

In 2018, with the help of members of the Pathology Training and Development Group in LTHT, the IBMS accredited the BScH and MSc Biomedical Science courses at LBU. Through this connection between the trust and university, the courses became closer aligned with this career pathway. Practitioners like myself were able to join the academic staff to help deliver some of the newer, more clinical modules such as Transfusion Science. We are able to emphasise the employability skills required and develop relevant practical lab sessions using the same technology as that used in the Pathology departments across the road from the university.

Developing the connections one step further, in 2021 the IBMS accredited the BScH Applied Biomedical Science route which has meant that the students now get an opportunity to spend 45 weeks in hospital Pathology labs completing the training required to graduate and qualify as a Biomedical Scientist. The relationship between NHS trust and HEI established only in the last few years has served to improve student experiences and graduate opportunities.