Thanks to our members, Biomedical Science Day 2019 was celebrated in hospital and university laboratories across the UK.
Biomedical Science Day is the biggest celebration of biomedical science in the world. It aims to inform the public and empower patients by telling them about practices in biomedical science, strengthen interdisciplinary teamwork and communication in hospitals and celebrate IBMS members who are #AtTheHeartOfHealthcare. This year’s celebrations were a huge success and we were overwhelmed by the scale of our members’ contributions.
Do you know what happens to your sample?
In preparation for Biomedical Science Day 2019, we produced three sample journey videos (samplejourney.com) and a comic book for children called SUPERLAB (superlabscience.com). The videos and comics were developed to encourage the general public and their children to think about the biomedical science behind their healthcare. Anybody with access to screens could run the videos on their stands and the comics were sent out as part of our promotional event packs that were given to our members for free. We even spotted Haematoman, Chemigirl and Supergene from Superlab informing the public about biomedical science (see picture, above, top right) .
Setting the Biomedical Science Day Example
As part of this year’s celebrations, we asked a hospital in each of the four home nations to take the lead in promoting the excellent work of our profession. Each hub showcased a laboratory and informed the public, patients and other hospital staff about their work.
Northern Ireland
Royal Victoria Hospital launched its brand new cellular pathology laboratory and opened its doors for a VIP tour. IBMS Chief Executive Jill Rodney was on the tour and said: “Biomedical Science Day was exceptional in Belfast. The Royal Victoria’s new cell path laboratory is so well equipped, and there are plans to go digital in the near future. It all looks very promising for the future of biomedical science and our members there.”
Scotland
Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and Robert Gordon University decided to focus on entertaining school-aged children – inviting classes from schools in the local community to take part in their “Where does my sample go?” games. The activities included simulated versions of urinalysis, microscopy of blood films and tissue screening.
IBMS Deputy Chief Executive Sarah May had this to say: “It was wonderful to see all the effort that people in Aberdeen had put into celebrating Biomedical Science Day. Nor was it wasted. The children were delighted by the science on offer. I think we might have created some future scientists.”
England
St James’s Hospital celebrated its digital pathology laboratory – the first of its kind in the world – and entertained with tours, games and information stands. IBMS Executive Head of Marketing and Membership Lynda Rigby spent the day in Leeds and said: “The world’s first fully digital pathology laboratory is amazing. Not only did St James’s manage to set the standard for all UK laboratories but they did it all without interrupting their services. It’s a landmark achievement and one we should all be celebrating on Biomedical Science Day.”
Wales
University Hospital Wales launched its new biochemistry laboratory and put on fun activities and talks throughout the day. IBMS Education Manager for Qualifications Emma-Jayne Plews enjoyed the celebrations and said: “There was so much effort put in. I couldn’t believe how much was going on. They really went above and beyond. I was so proud to be invited and join in with it all.”
Competition winners
We held 10 national competitions and were blown away by the number and high quality of the entries Over the course of the day, hundreds of photos were submitted – from most artistic photo to best group photo. If you celebrated Biomedical Science Day and saw somebody snapping away on their phone there is a good chance that you ended up in our Facebook photo gallery. Visit the page to find out.
Social media
“We encouraged our members to use the hashtags #BiomedicalScienceDay2019 and #AtTheHeartOfHealthcare to promote their activities. On Twitter both hashtags trended all day and had an audience of over 2,250,000 users with over six million views of all Biomedical Science Day posts. Biomedical Science Day also earned the attention of some big Twitter accounts, including Guardian Healthcare, Behind Closed Doors’ Dr Amir Khan, and Sarah Wollaston MP. On Facebook there were lots of messages of support from trusts, charities and other healthcare pages, and our online community were active and posting pictures of their events all day. On BBC Radio 2, DJ Zoe Ball – who has an average weekly audience of 9.05 million – also gave a shout out to biomedical scientists across the UK, as did BBC Radio Leeds and BBC Radio Jersey.
Events
Over 150 hospital and university laboratories took part in celebrations on Biomedical Science Day, each welcoming hundreds of visitors to learn about their role in healthcare. Amongst them, we had heard about some fun and fantastic ideas that we were eager to support through our Biomedical Science Day Activity Fund. To name a few: Alder Hey Children’s Hospital invited the “Mad Scientist” to do experiments with the children, PHE Colindale invited 16-18 year olds to their labs to talk about careers, Belfast City Hospital set up their “The Journey of the Sputum Pot” stand to inform people about the laboratory processes around cystic fibrosis and “Disease Detectives” was run at the Big Bang at Staffordshire University to teach people about disease and its investigation.
A big thanks to our members
At the end of the day, we couldn’t have done it without our members. It’s your enthusiasm and passion that makes Biomedical Science Day the great success it is. In three short years you have put this event on the map. It is now fully recognised as a national awareness day and helps to ensure that our profession is finally getting the recognition it deserves. Follow us on social media for the latest Biomedical Science Day news and updates and let’s do it all again in 2020!
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