Healthcare is embracing the appliance of science

[Guest guest]

February 24, 2010

Healthcare is embracing the appliance of science

Fay Schopen

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http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/career_and_jobs/graduate_manageme\

nt/article7038240.ece

Matt Rutter now works in the hospital where he was treated for leukaemia

Malcolm is part of a very exclusive club, one of only six people in

the country who comprise the national elite of mycologists — experts in fungal

diseases.

Indeed, the Professor of Medical Mycology at the University of Manchester

describes himself as an elder stateman of mycology: " There are very few of us, "

he said. " It's always been a very specialised career. "

And it is one that is in danger of dying out. Without new recruits, the field

could be overtaken by " generalists " , who, the professor says, " do an OK job " but

are no substitute for specialists.

For those who suffer from a fungal disease, this could be a serious problem.

This is not a subject concerned solely with the likes of athlete's foot:

Professor , for example, is an expert on aspergillosis, a chronic lung

disease caused by aspergillus, a common mould to which everybody is exposed.

When it infects those with impaired immune systems and about 5 per cent of those

people with asthma, it can be life-threatening.

There is hope, however, in the form of the professor's four graduate trainees,

three of whom he has recruited in the past nine months. They are participating

in a four-year programme funded by the Department of Health. " That's quite a

change — there have been very few trainees over the last ten years, " he said.

Professor is one of several scientists profiled in a new Department

of Health publication designed to boost interest in healthcare science careers.

More than 80 per cent of all diagnoses are reached with a contribution from

healthcare scientists and although there are 50,000 healthcare scientists within

the NHS and its related bodies, working across 45 specialisms that encompass

biology, genetics, physics physiology and bioengineering, the role of the

healthcare scientist has often been overshadowed by doctors and nurses.

" We've had a healthcare science workforce for a long time in the NHS, but

they're in the backroom, " Sue Hill, the Government's chief scientific officer,

said.

Healthcare science has evolved in an ad-hoc way within the NHS, but the

Government is beginning the process of restructuring and modernising the

workforce.

" At the moment we have 45 different entry routes and people just don't

understand how they can get in. It's very difficult for us to workforce plan, "

Professor Hill said. The Government will begin by working with higher education

authorities to reform training and education, and Professor Hill says that

ultimately she would like to see scientists working together in different ways.

She cites cardiovascular and respiratory as two linked disciplines that would

benefit from scientists working together more closely.

The transition will be gradual and challenging, but Professor Hill argues that a

number of factors, including changing population demographics and advancements

in healthcare, mean that the time is right: " If you just take genetics from 2000

[when the human genome was first sequenced], that has dramatically changed the

way we need to provide our molecular and cryptogenetic services and bring them

together. "

Val on agrees. The director of the West Midlands Regional Genetics

Laboratory and also head of the National Healthcare Science School of Genetics

said: " We need to encourage people to come into healthcare science. That's where

they will truly find it's exciting. Where genetics is going in the future is

into every branch of medicine — and genetic testing will be fundamental to every

patient care pathway you can think of. "

Nigel Silman, a microbiologist who works with novel and dangerous pathogens at

the Health Protection Agency's Centre for Emergency Preparedness at Porton Down,

Wiltshire, said: " People going to university to read science wouldn't envisage

the breadth of opportunities that there are. We need to do a much better

publicty job. The jobs that are out there are incredibly exciting. " Jobs that

range from blood transfusion scientists to design engineers, from facial

prosthetics experts to radiation physicists.

Eskinder , a biomechanical engineer at King's College Hospital, is

working on developing a device that will detect when patients snore or stop

breathing. He said that he had " stumbled " into his area of work via work

placements and inspiring role models. " I was one of the few lucky ones who has

someone involved enough to show me cool things. "

`I wanted to give something back'

Case study: Rutter

Seven years after Matt Rutter, then aged only 15, had leukaemia diagnosed, he

was working in the hospital where he had spent so much of his time undergoing

treatment. Specifically, he spent a lot of time in a laboratory at Addenbrooke's

Hospital undergoing lung function tests, after a bone marrow transplant had left

him with a serious lung condition. Intrigued by the technology used, he asked

his consultant about related careers. In 2003, he started work in the lab. Now

he is a respiratory physiologist and has a degree in clinical physiology.

" I wanted to be able to give back to the people that had helped me and I have

found that my experience has been very beneficial to other people as well, " he

said. Before his illness Mr Rutter was unaware of the diversity of jobs within

the NHS. " I was looking at doing something media-oriented or hotel management. "