NHS Scientist Training Programme 2016 applicants!

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Reply 1960

Hukk2011

Slightly off topic but appropriate for the audience:

You may have heard of the consultation for dropping nursing bursaries in favour of loans as a way of increasing access and equality. You may also know that this is not limited to nursing but also radiographers. Did you know they are looking to implement a similar thing across many more groups? Potentially including STP?

They acknowledge we currently would not be eligible for the£10,000 loan for a post grad masters and so are asking for ideas on how we could fund our living and learning costs.

If you feel you would like to contribute to the consultation then please check out the links below.

The case for funding reform:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/changing-how-healthcare-education-is-funded/the-case-for-health-education-funding-reform

The consultation:
https://consultations.dh.gov.uk/workforce/healthcare-education-funding

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 1961

chloep1989

Original post by welly909

Could you sub let your flat in Manchester to an STP trainee who has their msc at Manchester / Manchester met?

That would have been a great idea but my boyfriend lives there! And he can't afford the rent on his own (and neither can I) just such a pain. At least I am getting some redundency money from my current job!

Reply 1962

welly909

Original post by chloep1989

That's a shame. I think a lot off people are going to be in a similar boat. I'm going to move to Cambridge from London but it seems a bit pointless finding a flat straight away if almost immediately I have to leave and pay rent somewhere else almost straight away!

Reply 1963

DuckyMinotaur

Original post by welly909

Could you sub let your flat in Manchester to an STP trainee who has their msc at Manchester / Manchester met?

It also depends if we're all at uni at the same time too :/

Reply 1964

Steelowl93

Original post by chloep1989

Anyone got any idea on when we find out things like uni start date (for the 6-8 week block), how to sort out accomodation etc. I am going to be in Newcastle and so can't commute from Manchester. I need to work out how much I need to save to be able to pay for my accomodation in Newcastle for 8 weeks plus the rent on my current flat in Manchester! :frown:

My brother is doing medical physics at the moment and accommodation went on expenses (not sure if it varies from trust to trust) he stayed in a cheap b&b Monday to Friday and came home on weekends but he said some of his course mates had managed to sort out short term lets together or were lodging with a family. I guess if you wanted to do a short term let you could probably find housemates on here

Reply 1965

Ehter

Original post by welly909

I am in a similar boat. I have to travel to Nottingham from London! very hard to decide what to do as I have to leave my husband behind!

Reply 1966

Hukk2011

Original post by Techguy379

OL . Hello nice to meet you.I don't have any information whatsoever (I'm not from England and have been here for around 8 months only) , so it was a blind pick for me. If I may ask how is the bioinformatics node in Sheffield ? Do you have any ideas. Is the university good ? What type of town is Sheffield (student, industrial etc.) What is the price of living on average/monthly basis there , aka. accommodation, food, Internet XD ?

Sorry - I think you misunderstood. I am in Hull not Sheffield, and doing Med Phys not bioinformatics!

Reply 1967

BlueSheep32

For anyone who will have to travel for uni, In terms of accommodation for your uni blocks, many trusts have a training budget for you that can be used to pay for that, as well as attending training courses, meetings and conferences etc. You might have to shell out for it first and then claim it back, which is a pain, but it's better than nothing - once you have confirmation of your employment and your uni place (you'll be asked to enrol at some point), it's worth getting in touch to ask about it. Luckily I'm based in Birmingham for both my training post and university so I didn't have to use mine, but some of our cohort do have to travel quite a distance and I'm pretty sure they've managed to claim the money for accommodation back.

Maybe when you all know about your uni dates you could arrange house shares? I think AirBnB was used by a lot of people last year to find places. Or you can ask the uni what they recommend but this can sometimes be expensive so look around a bit - if you use all of your training budget on accommodation for uni, you won't have it for going to conferences and things like that, so try and spend as little as you can on accommodation (whilst choosing somewhere fit for purpose, of course!). If your courses are like mine (Biochem at Birmingham), once the initial first year block (ours was 4 weeks) is over, you only have to go back for a week or two at a time.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 1968

Buddy257

Original post by stp2015

Those getting confused between why they got an interview this year but not last with similar shortlisting scores - the shortlisting last year was out of 69, this year it is out of 60. So you can't really compare shortlisting scores between the years.

Looks like just 1 or 2 points at interview gives a massive difference in the ranks. So relieved given how close it all looks!

It is also great about them removing the charge for interview feedback and giving it electronically - last year was all by post and took forever.

Ahh that makes sense! I didn't realise it was out of 69 last year and 60 this year. The interview scores are so close! I'll be interested to see the feedback too

Reply 1969

SaltyCh1ps

Some trusts also have buying departments, that with prior arrangement from management (easier if they have already had an STP) they can book/pay for things in advance.
Some trusts have guidelines about where you can stay and how much they are willing to pay so check that before booking anywhere. Some trusts wont pay rent for staying at a friends for example, they may not pay for weekends also so if you are renting a place for 6 weeks they would pay for 30 nights.

Again it will all depend on the trust and individual circumstance

Reply 1970

ha55el

I've been offered a position for clinical biochem in south wales, is anyone else based in wales or anyone else had an offer for clinical biochem?

Reply 1971

Superhellie

Original post by ha55el

I've been offered a position for clinical biochem in south wales, is anyone else based in wales or anyone else had an offer for clinical biochem?

clinical biochem in london :smile:

Reply 1972

velocitygirl07

Can anyone who has applied to or got a place in Audiology answer a few questions for me? I'm thinking of applying next year, but am a bit confused by a couple of things:

1. When you qualify as a Clinical Scientist in Audiology, are you then a qualified audiologist? I'm confused what the difference between an audiologist and a clinical scientist (audiology) is.

2. What jobs are you actually qualified to apply for in the end? I read that Clinical Scientists are trained at Band 6 and generally apply for jobs at Band 7 once qualified. However, I've been looking at the NHS Jobs website, and can't really find anything like this for audiology. There are a view vacancies for Audiologists at Band 5, and a few for Specialist Audiologists at Band 6. When I search "Clinical Scientist" there seem to be loads of jobs for things like Medical Physics at Band 7- why is this not the case for Audiology?

I feel like I've done endless reading on the whole thing, but am still not completely clear. Any help would be gratefully received!

Reply 1973

jaaadele

Also - is anybody on here based at Barts Health?

Reply 1974

Sophs_cx

Original post by ssgee1

Could anyone tell me what shortlist score they got for Microbiology who was interviewed? Thanks :smile:

I got a shortlisting score of 49 for microbiology, got 42 in the interview and wasn't made an offer - first reserve :frown:

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 1975

JLD15

Original post by calmsmile93

Hi! Massive congrats on your genomics offer!! :smile:

I've applied for genomics for the past two years and haven't even received an interview :frown:

I was wondering if you could share your experiences so that maybe I could get an idea of where I can improve.

I'm a graduate of BSc Biomedical Science (received a 1st) and have done a genetics research project during my degree. I will be undertaking a genetics MSc soon. Hopefully this will help me to finally get an interview lol :smile:

Hi, I hope you don't mind me jumping in on your post. I've applied for this programme for 3 years and it was only this year that I realised what you need in order to boost your chances at securing an interview. I work as a Genetic Technologist at the moment so was fortunate enough to be able to read current STPs previous applications who work in my lab. I now completely understand the structure of the application and what they are looking for (I don't mean that to sound cocky). I'd be happy to read what you submitted and give you some pointers if you'd like? I understand an application is very personal and it's hard for someone to let another person critique their heart and soul (trust me I had mine ripped to shreds) but if you wanted me to look I would be happy to. I wish I'd had someone do that for me the past two years I'd put forward an application.

Reply 1976

ElCeeClifton

Original post by velocitygirl07

Hi, so I currently work as an audiologist (band 5) and have been accepted on to the STP this year, so hopefully this will help!

Once you finish the STP you are technically qualified to work as a band 7, however there aren't many of these jobs that come up and therefore they are really competitive to get. A lot of the time the employer will want a decent amount of experience within the job too.These tend to involve more of a management role also, like being a deputy head of department for example. I would say you would have a better chance applying for a band 6 specialist audiologist role when you qualify.

Saying that I know a couple of people who have qualified and gone into band 5 work as they have wanted a job and that was what was available.