Sixteen students from Year 10 attended the annual Barts and Queen Mary Science Festival, where they had the opportunity to listen to talks, speak to researchers and undergraduate students, and engage in interactive activities. The programme of talks included:
- Dr Filip Zemrak (Consultant Cardiologist) - Resuscitation talk
- Clinical Careers mini talks on cardiac physiology, physiotherapy and pharmacology.
- Jianmin Chen (Lecturer in Inflammation and Cardiovascular Medicine Career Development Fellow) - When Your Joints Attack Your Heart: Exploring the Connection Between Rheumatoid Arthritis and Heart Health
A highlight of the trip was when students had the opportunity to use the handheld ultrasound to visualise the different chambers of the heart. Unfortunately, on enquiring about the price of this device and whether it might be within the scope of a school budget, at £25,000 we realised this was a firm ‘no’!
Here are some of their accounts of the day:
“I went on the trip to the science festival with an open mind, knowing that I already wanted to do a career related to biology (most likely animal medicine or dentistry). Most people, when thinking of careers in biology, think of a doctor or a surgeon, but there are so many different pathways to take. I did not realise how diverse the variety of careers would be until we met some of the specialists at the institute.
Something unforgettable was the talk on Rheumatoid Arthritis and its connections with heart attacks by Dr Jianmin Chen. It is these correlations between conditions that fascinates me the most and it is amazing how we were able to see the way in which data was collected to support this hypothesis and descriptions of the experiments undertaken and the analysis of the results.
Furthermore, we got to see how Cardiac physiologists use ultrasound imaging to view the heart and its healthiness. Being able to see connections between what we learn at school and their real applications in medicine was extraordinary. We learnt in physics how ultrasound imaging works but truly seeing it for myself was an unforgettable experience. Overall, I felt as if everyone was able to take away something from the trip, whether that be about the range of career opportunities in the NHS or about the way in which life at university works (from the perspective of a pharmacology student at the campus whom we met). I would strongly recommend everyone to take chances and volunteer for such opportunities as you have nothing to lose but always knowledge to gain. “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone” - Neale Donald Walsch.”
Darran (Year 10)
“On Tuesday 20th June, I had the opportunity to go to the Barts & QMUL Science festival to enrich our learning in biology. When we arrived, we were greeted by a talk on heart resuscitations where we learnt CPR along with how to use a defibrillator. What struck me the most was how tiring CPR can get to maintain a steady rhythm and how deep each compression should be. What fascinated me the most was a talk on how rheumatoid arthritis - how it links to heart disease and how people with rheumatoid arthritis are almost twice as likely to develop heart disease as those without the condition. The day came to a close with talks about forensic science and a talk from a volunteer from the charity Smiles who talked about dental health.”
Hritesh (Year 10)
Personally, I found the lectures we experienced during the course of the trip rather fascinating and generally quite useful. The trip helped me gain an insight into different career paths and it helped me even more so in considering the subjects I wished to do in A level in preparation for next year. Overall, I found it quite beneficial to be able to talk with current undergraduates and ask them questions about their lifestyles at university. I think the trip to the science festival offered by the school was a great opportunity.”
Arya (Year 10)