15 August 2017 (Tuesday) - IBMS Newsletter

The IBMS newsletter appeared in my inbox this morning:

Biomedical Science Day - Thank you

Thank you to everyone that helped us to celebrate and promote our first Biomedical Science Day. It was a huge success and we were overwhelmed by the amount of responses we received.

We were inundated with messages of support on Facebook, Twitter and email. You sent us hundreds of images taken at work and home, with teams of biomedical science staff holding events in hospitals across the UK to promote their work.

We sent out over 600 posters, with the aim of raising public awareness, some of which reached Finland, New Zealand, Kenya, Nigeria and Croatia.

Our social media posts were seen by an incredible 166,198 people!

Date for your diary - 19th July 2018

Same time next year. In the meantime, we will keep you updated with information for next year's event and how you can get involved. Please contact us with any suggestions you may have to help us promote and celebrate the event to website@ibms.org

News

Calling all early career reseachers - free places on a media workshop Find out how to make your voice heard in public debates about science and take part in a free workshop for members at Edinburgh University on 22 September. Read more >>

Join the CPO's Medicines Mechanisms Programme as a patient/public member Are you passionate about patient care? The Chief Professions Officers (CPO)'s Medicines Mechanisms Programme is looking for new patient/public members. Read more >>

UK Standards for Microbiology Investigations Following comments received during the consultation process, Public Health England (PHE) has reissued the guidance UK SMI V 5: Screening for hepatitis C infection. Read more >>

New biomedical science jobs board Find the latest biomedical science vacancies, sign up for job alerts, upload your CV and find careers advice. Helping you find your next job in biomedical science. Read more >>

ABA Guideline  The Association of Biomedical Andrologists has published a guideline on the uncertainty of measurement in andrology Read more >>

Northern Ireland 2017 Advancing Healthcare Awards The AHA NI awards are now open for entries to celebrate the contributions healthcare scientists and allied health professionals have made to health and social care. Read more >>

New Careers site launched The IBMS is proud to launch a new careers website, aimed at students, graduates, teachers and careers advisors. There is also a section for public engagement with activities and experiments to download. Read more >>

Members' news

And the winners are.... Announcing the prize winners for the photo competition for Biomedical Science Day 2017 Read more >>

Members raise awareness of blood health campaign Media Planet collaborates with the IBMS, Cancer Research UK and the Royal College of Pathologists and The Guardian to organise a campaign promoting blood health awareness.​ Read more >>

Showcasing biomedical science at careers fair Senior Biomedical Scientist Catherine Fontinelle represented biomedical science at a careers fair run by Epsom and St Helier University Hospital.  Read more >>

IBMS Additions - new benefit added 92%* of Affinity Groups get a cheaper quote on their car insurance with Members Insurance Solutions provided by Cornmarket. Call now on 028 9044 2206 (quote IBMS) or register for a quote today and Cornmarket will call you when you're due.   *Terms and conditions apply. Click here for full terms.  See website for details. Offers subject to change without notice. Insurance is subject to underwriting. The 92% saving shown is based on affinity groups schemes currently run by Cornmarket and your affinity group may experience a different saving level. IBMS Additions is managed on behalf of IBMS by Parliament Hill Ltd of 3rd Floor, 127 Cheapside, London, EC2V 6BT who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for non-investment insurance mediation only under registration number 308448. Details can be checked on the Financial Services register by visiting the FCA’s web site at https://fca.org.uk/register.

Share your news, stories and events
We love hearing about the amazing work of our members, promoting biomedical science. If you have a story to tell or an event that needs promoting please contact us at website@ibms.org

In my last entry I wondered about “proper” CPD.. I don’t want to be disrespectful to the IBMS, but again I find myself questioning the relevance of this newsletter to my daily round…

15 August 2017 (Tuesday) - Proper CPD ?

The Lablogatory people sent me an excellent case study today:

An 81 year old presented with fatigue and not feeling too well. CBC revealed marked leukocytosis and monocytosis.

• White cell count: 85.1 K/uL (elevated)
• Hemoglobin: 8.6 g/dl (decreased)
• Platelet count: 79 K/uL ( decreased)

Review of peripheral smear revealed….

This is the sort of thing I need for CPD. I try very hard to get CPD material; I subscribe to pretty much everything I can. Maybe one article I find in ten gets a mention here on this blog.

Sometimes I wonder if I am doing CPD right. I’m sure I need more of this sort of thing…

14 August 2017 (Monday) - Money

The American Society for Hematology sent me an email today offering me the opportunity to watch a webinar (for free) about reimbursements and payments for medical professional involved in treating cases of sickle-cell disease.

The American Society for Hematology is American… health care is done differently over there. I wouldn’t say that I don’t care about the costs of what I do, but the cost is a much lower consideration in the NHS than in a system which is effectively run as a business.

Would I provide a better service if I was more financially astute?

I don’t know…