The
IBMS newsletter came out today… it was full of posts about how one might
progress one’s career as a biomedical scientist which is laudable. I suppose it’s
not really much good for me as all I want is a quiet life with full retirement
in a few years’ time. But it made me think. There’s a lot more ways in which
someone might advance these days… once you’ve actually got into this blood
testing game.
Two days ago one of the trainees posted
to Facebook that it was seven years since she graduated with a BSc in
biomedical science. Seven years…
These days the route into this job seems
to be deliberately made to deter people from becoming a professional blood
tester. Back in the day I went from miserably failing “A” level year one to the
(now bulldozed) Royal East Sussex Hospital where I worked for four days
a week. On the fifth I went to Brighton (and later Bromley) Technical College.
Admittedly the wages weren’t brilliant; mates working in the local abattoir got
more money. But part of my wages were the fees of the course I was taking, the
train fares to get there, the price of the fish and chips, cheesecake and pint
of lager I had for lunch, and they gave me thirty quid a year to spend on text
books too. So after four years I got my qualifications and having been working
for those four years I could work unsupervised right away, and my first night
shift was one week later.
Perhaps we might revisit the old day
release scheme? Mind you, I say “we”… it’s not me who might revisit.
