Recently i became aware that the head of the photography department at Burton Queens Hospital Alan Greenman, was looking for a few students to photograph an annual awards event and produce portraits of the staff that work there in there working environments. Also taking some general photography on the wards once he gets clearance for a student to photograph on the different wards.
I will be doing this work alongside another student that is on my course, I have been in contact with Alan via email and i arranged to have a meeting with him last tuesday.
The meeting went very well, and i have to say Alan was very welcoming and i learnt and was shown a lot. I took with me my research that i have gathered together on medical photography and ways of progressing into this career and the type of work that they produce. Alan seemed really impressed that i had researched and knew so much about quiet a lot of the things he was talking about to me.
He mentioned that he is part of the IMI which i already knew was the institute of medical illustrators, and he also talked about a book that he and other members of the institute had put together. It is a book for medical photographers detailing the different positions for different parts of the body, basically a handbook to always refer too. I already knew about this book from the research that i have done and i think he was pleasantly surprised to find that i already knew about it.
After a brief chat about what i would be photographing and also a look at the research i had collected and me asking him about his career path and how he has progressed within his field, he showed me around the department. He showed me all the different software, printers and equipment that they use. I was then shown the studio and the different backdrops that they generally use, as well as the database that they use to store all patients photos on. I was introduced to the other two clinical photographers that were working at the time, and i also asked them about how they got into the profession, how long they had been doing it and what they thought were the best aspects of the job.
I knew that having this meeting and getting a feel for the place and the atmosphere would definately make my mind up whether this was the career for me or not.
And it did just that….. I am definately wanting to go into this career and i am very excited about the work that i will be doing for the NHS and also anything that could come from it.
Alan said that even though there are no positions available at the moment. (of course i have not completed this course yet so am not looking to apply for a trainee position until middle or end of next year). He did say that doing this work will look very good on my CV and be great for my portfolio when i do go and apply for jobs as a trainee because other candidates may not have this kind of work before they apply for a trainee post.
Overall… EXCITED! :)
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