Immersive work experience programme explores healthcare careers

We invited nine students from schools across Essex to spend an immersive week at ARU in Chelmsford, exploring careers in healthcare.

While here, the students worked with teams across the schools of Nursing, Midwifery and Community Health, Medicine, and Allied Health. They gained insights into careers in healthcare, while experiencing university-style learning in a supportive environment.

Based in the William Harvey Building, the students' packed schedule of activities included:

• hands-on sessions with clinical equipment
• working with high-fidelity mannequins in the skills labs
• exploring different teaching approaches
• practising fundamental clinical skills.

They also developed an understanding of NHS values and professionalism, ethics in health care, and the importance of communication and teamwork.

The week offered an opportunity to find out more about different areas of work, including nursing, social work, medicine, midwifery, optometry and paramedic science. Once again, it was a hands-on experience with highlights including basic life support, infection prevention practices, observations, cardiac assessment and circulatory skills, neurological assessment, and normal and breech deliveries. Supported by ARU's Admissions team, students also took part in mock interviews and creative tasks to support their confidence and future university applications.

The programme was led and hosted by Dr Anice Kavathekar and Anita Newstead in the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Social Care.

If you'd like to know more about healthcare courses at ARU, find out more at one of our Open Days.

Alternatively, if you'd like to bring your students to campus, our Subject Taster days give first‑hand insights into a range of subject areas.