Even though many of our graduates will have progressed in their careers since completing a case study, they are still of interest to students who wish to gain an understanding of the world of work.

I am in my third year of the NHS Scientist training programme doing the audiology specialism. I work full time in an audiology department as well as doing part time masters study based at Manchester University. As part of my training I have learnt how to test hearing and fit hearing aids in people of all ages, from new born babies to adults. Testing in newborns involves using electrodes to record responses from the brain to sound. I also do vestibular testing, which is testing the balance organs of the ears.

On a typical day I could do adult assessments in the morning, which is where we take a history from a patient, test their hearing and agree with the patient suitable rehabilitation strategies (for example hearing aids or hearing therapy). In the afternoon I could be working on the paediatric assessment clinic, where we receive referrals from a number of sources, for example GPs, health visitors or paediatricians who have concerns regarding a child's hearing or general development (hearing is always tested to rule it out as a cause for development problems).
I also have one study day a week (or two study sessions).

I enjoy the satisfaction of identifying a hearing loss and being able to help rehabilitate the patient with hearing aids and other interventions so that they are able to fully participate in activities that they enjoy. Hearing loss greatly affects a persons quality of life so being able to provide things like hearing aids free to the patient really does make such a huge difference to them. This is especially satisfying in paediatric patients - sometimes it really is like the Youtube videos you see of babies hearing aids being switched on for the first time!

Challenging aspects of the job are the stress of working and doing a masters at the same time. As it is a training course there are many work based competencies to achieve, as well as exams and coursework for the masters and a 3rd year research project. We do get a study day a week but sometimes work does pile up.
In terms of clinic work challenges obviously include breaking bad news to parents about a child's hearing loss and other challenges which come with working with patients, such as being able to explain a patients hearing loss and hearing aids on a level which they can understand.

This area appealed to me because I wanted to use the scientific skills I learnt in my degree and apply it directly to patient care. Working as a clinical scientist means you can still be directly involved in research and service development, whilst also working directly with patients (no labs!).

I had to have a BSc in a related area to get onto the scientist training programme. As I am also doing a masters I constantly use the essay writing and exam skills which I learnt in my degree, such as critical analysis of research papers. For the first year of my master especially, there was a big overlap between things we were learning and things which I had been taught in my BMS degree, which made it a lot easier for me!

Msc Clinical Science (Neurosensory Science) - Audiology: 2016- current.
I will be eligible to register as a clinical scientist once I finish my training, pass my university course and pass a practical exam.

I will qualify as a clinical scientist in September this year (2019) and after this can apply to work as a clinical scientist. Usually clinical scientists specialise in a specific area of audiology (adults, cochlear implants, balance or paediatrics) in an NHS department. I am currently deciding between a career in academia (possibly a PhD), working in audiology research, or applying for a clinical role in an NHS hospital.

The STP is very competitive to get onto, and if you do get a place it is a very demanding programme so make sure that it is definitely what you want to do. You could also be placed anywhere in the UK (based on how you rank different areas) so you need to be flexible about where you can live for 3 years. Spend some time in a department in the speciality you are interested in so you fully understand what work you will be doing. In the end I would say it is totally worth it though (and that's even whilst I am in the middle of my 3rd year dissertation!).