Held in the atrium of our Radcliffe Primary Care Building, the event introduced students to a wide range of career journeys and they were invited to join the department’s Young Persons' Advisory Group (YPAG), which was launched this time last year. The group gives young people a chance to get involved in real research projects, helping shape how studies are designed and how findings are shared with the public.
The careers session featured a series of short talks from researchers, healthcare professionals and professional services staff who shared their personal experiences – including the unexpected twists and turns their careers have taken.
Richard Stevens, Professor of Medical Statistics, demonstrated the importance of medical statistics and shared his path to working in the department. Cicely Marsden, Professor of Public Health, spoke about how her love of Latin America led her to a master's course that developed into a research career, after originally being interested in screenwriting.
Kate Sheridan, who is currently completing her DPhil in our MS&HERG research group, shared how her career started as an ambulance driver aged 18. She reassured students that it’s okay not to have everything figured out at 17 and to change course along the way; words echoed by Ben Goldacre, Director of the Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science, who encouraged the students to be open to opportunities and changing path if something interests them along the way.
Helen Salisbury, Senior Medical Education fellow, reflected on her 23 years as a GP and spoke about her other roles including teaching students in our department and her writing work for the BMJ and Take a Break magazine.
Paula Wray, Senior Manager NIHR ARC Oxford and Thames Valley, and Phil Turner, Manager and Senior Researcher, NIHR HRC in Community Healthcare, both spoke about the people and experiences that shaped their careers in health research, while Anna Moore, Research Communications Officer, shared more about her role.
Following the talks, students had the opportunity to ask questions, speak to researchers, and learn more about the different paths into healthcare and research, all while sharing pizza which very quickly disappeared!
As part of the event, Polly Kerr, Patient and Public Involvement Manager, and Sharon Dixon, NIHR Doctoral Research Fellow and General Practitioner - who both organised the event - invited the students to join the department’s Young Persons’ Advisory Group. Members of the YPAG will help make research from across the department more relevant and accessible to young people, for example by giving feedback on study ideas and helping design materials such as leaflets and web pages.
The event is part of our continuing work to develop Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in research, especially among groups who are often underrepresented.