Celina Mahenzi has blogged about her experiences during her placement year in research at Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust during her biomedical science degree at Manchester Metropolitan University
Taking a year out of education was a new chapter for me, it made me shift my focus from theoretical learning to practical application. It allowed me to put into practice the knowledge and skills I learnt throughout my two years at university in a real world-clinical setting.
The role of Research Support Worker aligns perfectly with my academic background and professional aspirations in health care.
My day-to-day task include screening for eligible patients, recruiting patients and obtaining informed consent from patients both on the wards and remotely via phone. I also collect and process biological samples, ensuring they are handled according to study protocols.
I support several different clinical trials across multiple departments including respiratory, neurology and orthopaedics.
Oncology research
I also support other teams with clinical trials and I go on study visits to other sites. One of my favourite visits was to The Christie – I work on a cancer trial called INFORM and this visit deepened my understanding of oncology research. Another highlight was a visit to the laboratories at the University of Manchester, where I had a tour around the research laboratory, spoke with PhD students about their ongoing projects, and observed the processing and analysis of patient samples collected from our hospital. I was also able to attend a conference called 2nd Navigation Brain Tumour Diagnosis: Innovations and Strategies Symposium, coordinated by Prof Petra Hamerlik and her team, to hear about recent advances in diagnostic approaches and tools that are being developed for brain tumour diagnosis across the UK.
What I enjoy the most about this placement is that it combines both patient care and clinical research, you get to experience both worlds.
I enjoy interacting with patients, there is always something new you learn from them. I work alongside a range of health professionals from research nurses, ward nurses, physicians, doctors to surgeons. This gives me the opportunity to not only enhance my professional communication skills but also to network, ask questions and understand more about the diverse roles within NCA.
Tear samples
My favourite study to work on is the liquid biopsy for brain tumours, which involves using tear samples as a biomarker for an early diagnosis of brain tumour. Working on this study strengthened my laboratory skills such as venepuncture, collecting, processing and storing samples.
There are days that can be extremely busy at the hospital with recruitment and follow-ups with patients and this is what I prefer. There are also days where it is very quiet to the point where I will not have much to do and I use this time to educate myself more about other studies and topics that are relevant to the studies I work on. Research can be repetitive at times, however you will always learn something new along the way.
Before the end of this placement, I want to make the most of all the opportunities that I am given, make use of all the help that I have available from my manager and my team and continue to develop technical skills that will help me in my professional life.