Final Year BMedSc student Daisy Henesy and PhD student Emma Thompson discuss their experiences and the benefits of taking a year out to work in industry as part of their degrees at the University of Birmingham.
Duration: 3:16mins
Speakers
S1 Daisy Hennessey, final year BMedSc student
S2 Emma Thompson, second year PhD student
Transcript
S1 Hi, I’m Daisy Hennessy. I’m a final year BMedSc student.
S2 My name’s Emma Thompson, I’m a PhD student in Clinical Experimental Medicine and I’m currently on my second year.
Why did you want to take a year out in industry?
S2 I wanted to do a year out in industry because I felt it would be a great experience for me to have a real hands-on experience of working in a proper research lab. I felt that it would give me more confidence working in a lab which would help me with my third year and also applying for future research positions. And it was also great to have a taster of industry as compared to academia.
How did you organise your placement?
S1 I asked before I started the course if I could take a year in industry because I knew that it wasn’t part of the course that everybody did. So once I’d checked that I got in touch with the Year in Industry coordinator who helped me and pointed me in the right direction of companies that might offer placements. I knew I ideally wanted Glaxo Smithkline so I applied for them straight away and also a few other companies just in case I wasn't successful. I wanted to make the best – make sure I had the best chance of getting a place and then I just applied online and went to interviews independently but I did get time off my course to attend those.
Did you get support from your programme whilst away for a year?
S2 I did stay in touch with a supervisor who helped coordinate the placements in the first place. He stayed in touch by email and he also came and visited me once in the year to see how I was doing and see the work that I was doing. And I also stayed in touch with my personal tutor which was really useful, especially when it got towards coming back for my final year.
How was your experience?
S1 It’s helped me in my modules because I was on a cancer based project last year and I’m doing a cancer module this year, so some of the content I’m already really familiar with, which is really nice to be a step ahead. And also I’m currently looking at final year projects so I know a lot more about the techniques that they’re talking about and I know that I’m capable of learning new techniques, which is really helpful and I’ve met up with some supervisors and they’re all quite impressed that I’ve got a year’s worth of lab experience. So when I start my project I feel confident that I’ll be able to start straight away with it and get some really good lab work done.
Would you recommend the year in industry to other students?
S1 I would absolutely recommend doing a year in industry to other BMedSc students. It’s really helped to improve my confidence in the lab and also my communication skills. It’s been a really valuable experience and I know that it’s going to pay in my future career.
S2 I would definitely recommend doing a year in industry to other BMedSc students; it was one of the best experiences that I’ve had during my whole degree course. Coming back and applying for other research positions or jobs, further education, it just looks great having it on your CV. It’s also given me much more confidence, not only in the lab but also working independently or as part of a team, presenting, speaking in public. Just generally everything I got from it was positive and if I had a chance to do it again, I would.
End of recording