Find out more about degree and apprentice opportunities in our radiotherapy team at our open day
The Radiotherapy department at Royal Derby Hospital is hosting an open day in partnership with Sheffield Hallam University to showcase the 'on the job' support and training available to students.
Each year, our dedicated colleagues support several students on their placements through the BSc degree program and through degree apprenticeships, to help provide the next generation of therapeutic radiographers receive the best training and real-world experience to enhance their knowledge and expertise.
The event will take place on Saturday 28 September in the Radiotherapy department, located on Level 0 at Royal Derby Hospital across two sessions; from 9.30am until 11am and 11.30am until 1pm.
Lindsay Sparks is the Practice Educator for the Therapeutic Radiographer Apprenticeship and Work-based Mentor in Radiotherapy supporting students through their placements, and she said the experience they get while being at the hospital is invaluable to their ongoing development:
"Getting hands on experience is so important as it helps to supplement the academic side of the degree courses by helping students to fully grasp the complexities of what is involved in being a therapeutic radiographer.
"The next generation [of therapeutic radiographers] is so important and will play a vital role in the healthcare of our future patients, and we take great pride in providing them with the best possible training and experience to help them in the early stages of their careers.
"Students here get access to cutting-edge technology, including surface guided radiotherapy (SGRT) which isn't available that widely across the NHS, so getting to see this and learn about this treatment method first-hand is invaluable."
As well as giving students an insight into equipment and the treatment methods our teams use to treat our patients, the team also helps to give students wider exposure to the whole patient pathway.
Students get to spend time working in areas such as chemotherapy and ward areas to help them fully understand the entirety of the cancer patient pathway, giving them broader experience to help supplement their studies.
Lindsay added: "We try to give students a well-rounded view of the patient experience and let them see the whole patient pathway so they can fully understand what our patients experience, which is really important in helping them to build their understanding but also in giving students insights into other areas of the Trust."
There are two routes into becoming a therapeutic radiographer: by completing a traditional degree and degree apprenticeship. The former is more academic whereas the degree apprenticeship offers a substantive post upon completion and training is based more in the hospital and means you earn a salary while learning - these different options suit different styles of learning but result in exactly the same qualification.
Jo Gill is one of our current students and is half way through her degree apprenticeship in the team.
After originally starting her career pathway in diagnostic radiography, she saw an advert for the Therapeutic Radiographer degree apprenticeship and was successful in the recruitment process. Jo has been made to feel extremely welcome and supported by the team since day one.
She said: "I feel really lucky as everyone in the team is so willing to help, approachable and friendly - there's such a great feel to the team.
"Seeing how the team interact with patients and how they build that rapport with them is incredible, and they do all they can to make the time that patients spend here as pleasant as possible.
"I've been able to see so many different parts of the cancer patient pathway and it has really helped me understand things much better and I feel I can support patients more holistically as a result."
Steffan Armstrong, Training and Development Superintendent, works alongside Lindsay to provide training and development to students, and said the whole team is keen to support the development of students, but also to continue to share learning within the team:
"As well as training students, we also continue to provide training and development opportunities for our colleagues to ensure they have the best practice and information available to them to help them share this learning with students and further enhance patient care.
"We always put our patients first across the Trust, but in our team, you can really see how everyone is always striving to improve and make things better to provide the best care to our patients every time.
More information about the open day
The event will take place on Saturday 28 September in the Radiotherapy department, located on Level 0 at Royal Derby Hospital across two sessions; from 9.30am until 11am and 11.30am until 1pm.
Attendees will get the chance to speak to members of the team and explore the state-of-the-art facilities, including the surface guided radiotherapy treatment and see demonstrations as to how radiotherapy is used to treat our patients.