Careers in Healthcare Futures Evening

We recently hosted a successful Careers in Healthcare Futures Evening event in school for students in Years 10-13 and parents.

Developing competence and confidence in networking is a key aspect of our Professional Experience and Insight programme at St Helen’s. Our Futures Evenings and webinars are not only sector-specific, but offer students an opportunity to get a flavour of a range of career pathways and to network with professionals working in these sectors. They are just one facet of our exciting and expanding programme of student networking opportunities.

This two-part event saw an all alumnae panel of guest speakers from a spectrum of backgrounds across the health sector  discuss the power of networking. A sample of the panel included:

  • Dr Kate Young, Acute Oncology Lead Consultant at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust
  • Dr Lucy Dunsford, Specialist Orthodontist in primary and secondary care East and North Herts
    NHS Trust
  • Julia Johnson, Principal Speech and Language Therapist (Neurology),
    King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (retired)
  • Dr Yasmin Lazarus, Educational and Child Psychologist, Buckinghamshire Council
  • Cordelia McKechnie, Consultant Surgeon / Head of School of Ophthalmology, Whipps Cross Hospital, Barts Health NHS Trust and Health Education England, London

Students and their parents took part in the practical element – the networking part of the evening. Illuminating discussions followed and one of our panel spoke about her experience of being on the ‘front-line’ during the pandemic and how this is her proudest achievement in life.

Conversations were anchored in a career within the healthcare industry, an eclectic pathway and roles in everything from physiotherapy and front-line cancer treatment, to child psychology, orthodontics, drug development and the pharmaceutical industry were highlighted.