Students participate in hands-on activities that show how science benefits patients

Clinical scientists at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust have showcased how science benefits patients to local schoolchildren at a medical physics outreach event at Firth Hall.

Y13 pupils from King Edward VII School were given an insight into how clinical scientists and other hospital staff apply their knowledge of the basic principles of physics to support everyday patient care from a team of medical physicists from the Royal Hallamshire Hospital and the medical physics team at the University of Sheffield (Division of Clinical Sciences).

During the visit, the students took part in a series of interactive hands-on activities including an immersive virtual reality demonstration of the different components of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. They were also shown how organs and disease are visualised on X-rays and CT scanners to diagnose and treat disease, how controllable sources of light such as lasers are used to differentiate bloods cells to diagnose disease and develop therapies and treatments, and the importance of physical and practical measurement skills in the hospital environment.

Jonathan Taylor, principal clinical scientist for Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We were delighted to give the students a glimpse of the medical technologies and techniques that we use in our hospitals and deliver hands-on demonstrations to show how they are used to support and improve patient care. Scientific skills and knowledge are practical, relevant and crucial to healthcare, both now and in the future, so we also hope that this event has inspired the students and will encourage future generations to take up careers as medical physicists or clinical scientists.”

Medical physicists and clinical scientists are involved in over 80% of decisions that affect a patient’s care, and together with doctors they are closely involved in assessing and treating illness and disability.

The Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering Department at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals works closely with the University of Sheffield’s Medical Physics Group.