Healthcare heroes create a bang at careers fair

Last week we joined forces to help King’s Health Partners’ showcase a diverse range of careers within healthcare to young people from across the UK. Sparking interest in science, technology and engineering, young people aged between 7-19 yrs could practice medical procedures including keyhole surgery, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and endoscopy.

From Thursday 14 March to Sunday 17 March, over 60,000 children and young people attended the Big Bang Fair at London ExCel. Over 120 staff and student volunteers from Guy’s and St Thomas’, King’s College London, King’s College Hospital and South London and Maudsley inspired thousands of children by demonstrating the vast variety of healthcare careers. 

Children and families visiting the ‘Healthcare Heroes’ stand got truly hands on with all areas of healthcare that were related to all three aspects of the Fair. From learning how to take blood , stitch wounds, and lessons in life support to making bronchial trees of the lungs out of pipe cleaners, the stand proved a real hit.

Recognized as one of the highlights at the fair, the ‘Healthcare Heroes’ stand was asked to give its popular live demonstration on birth delivery in the Sunday special performance presented to a large audience by TV Presenter Greg Foot.

Dr Beth Thomas, Outreach Programme Manager at King’s Health Partners Simulation and Interactive Learning Centres, was involved in organising the event. She said: “As the largest employer in the UK, the NHS has a wealth of careers at the fingertips for these children to get into but what was really special about the fair was showing them that there is more to healthcare than the clinical roles and seeing kids really enjoy learning about it.  My huge thanks to the 120 staff members from across our four partner organisations who gave up their time to volunteer at the Fair – we could not have done it without you!”