biomedical science year in industry/placement year

hi, I've applied to uni for biomed (4 of which are with are including a year in industry/placement). I was wondering if it's more beneficial to choose the course with a year in industry rather than the standard course. Also, If I were to choose the course without the industrial year (in bristol uni), would I be able to find experience easily myself and what would that mean regarding finance? thank you!

Reply 1

sathy606

8

Original post by ashleyasdfgh

hi, I've applied to uni for biomed (4 of which are with are including a year in industry/placement). I was wondering if it's more beneficial to choose the course with a year in industry rather than the standard course. Also, If I were to choose the course without the industrial year (in bristol uni), would I be able to find experience easily myself and what would that mean regarding finance? thank you!

Hi,
I did biomed a few years ago and worked as a BMS (Biomedical Scientist). Does the industry/placement year allow you to do your HCPC registration portfolio? I think it depends on what you want to do after biomed. If for example you want to work for the NHS and become a Biomedical Scientist then having a placement year to do the registration portfolio would help you a lot. My uni did not have the option to do a placement year so I ended up working for the NHS as a lab assistant and doing the portfolio alongside it to become registered with the HCPC. Some of my friends went to unis that had the option to do a placement year in a hospital lab in order to get their registration portfolio done and to gain experience. They found it useful but they did have to finance it themselves n commute from home for a year or get a part time job to cover living costs. They were in the hospital lab 9 to 5:30pm monday to friday and one of them worked weekend shifts in order to get money to cover petrol etc.

Let me know if you have any other questions :smile:

Reply 2

ashleyasdfgh

OP

4

Original post by sathy606

Hi,
I did biomed a few years ago and worked as a BMS (Biomedical Scientist). Does the industry/placement year allow you to do your HCPC registration portfolio? I think it depends on what you want to do after biomed. If for example you want to work for the NHS and become a Biomedical Scientist then having a placement year to do the registration portfolio would help you a lot. My uni did not have the option to do a placement year so I ended up working for the NHS as a lab assistant and doing the portfolio alongside it to become registered with the HCPC. Some of my friends went to unis that had the option to do a placement year in a hospital lab in order to get their registration portfolio done and to gain experience. They found it useful but they did have to finance it themselves n commute from home for a year or get a part time job to cover living costs. They were in the hospital lab 9 to 5:30pm monday to friday and one of them worked weekend shifts in order to get money to cover petrol etc.

Let me know if you have any other questions :smile:

hey, I've applied to non-accredited unis and I heard that the process of completing top-up modules is long and expensive (if I were to become a BMS) so I don't think I'll pursue that path. did your friends not receive any funding during their placement year? Thank you!!!

Reply 3

sathy606

8

Original post by ashleyasdfgh

hey, I've applied to non-accredited unis and I heard that the process of completing top-up modules is long and expensive (if I were to become a BMS) so I don't think I'll pursue that path. did your friends not receive any funding during their placement year? Thank you!!!

Hi,
I know of one colleague who did top up modules whilst working as a medical lab assistant as her degree was non-accredited too. I think at times the NHS can help with contributing to the cost of the top up modules but its worth double checking. No unfortunately they did not receive funding for their placement year-they spent 1 year in the NHS laboratory and it was useful as they then had one years experience which looked good on their CV but they either commuted from home (Luckily their placement hospital was near home-about 40mins drive) and one had a part time job to help out. But there are other options to go into after you have finished your biomed degree. You can also do the scientist training programme option (it doesnt cost you anything). It is funded by the NHS and it takes 3 years to complete but you get paid a salary whilst you are training of £28k per year and you get to complete an accredited masters. Then you become a HCPC registered clinical scientist. Other options would be to go into teaching. One of the people from my biomed degree went on to teach at a secondary school in london. Some people also go into research labs instead as research technicians.
There are lots of options :smile:

Reply 4

Beecar98

16

Original post by ashleyasdfgh

hey, I've applied to non-accredited unis and I heard that the process of completing top-up modules is long and expensive (if I were to become a BMS) so I don't think I'll pursue that path. did your friends not receive any funding during their placement year? Thank you!!!

Hi! I’d just like to say something about placement year funding. You are still eligible for a maintenance loan on your placement year. It’s a reduce rate, unless you are working on a service placement, such as a hospital, then you are eligible for the normal amount you’d get. I did an NHS placement as part of my degree and received my regular amount of maintenance loan