Carl Davy

Carl Davy is an Audiologist in the Audiology Department at Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust. If you go on placement to Castle Hill Hospital in Hull you will work with Carl. He has agreed to answer a few questions about how essential the practical element to our course is to your career and in securing your first graduate job. 

Tell us about your role as a Clinical Educator for the University of Leeds. What do you do?

Initially, I will liaise with the University of Leeds regarding placement of students at the Castle Hill Hospital and arrange a timetable for them. I attend regular meetings at the University to ensure the wellbeing of students whilst on placement and that their training is maintained to a good standard.

What can students expect to learn when on placement with you?

When the students arrive on placement it is my job to help with transferring the theoretical knowledge gained at the University of Leeds into practical skills that can be used in the workplace. They will progress from initial observations of various tests and treatments to performing them independently. We have departmental social get-togethers and students are always invited along as they become part of our working family.

What do you expect from our students when they are on placement in your department?

We expect the students to apply themselves to their role as trainee audiologists with care and compassion. We hope they will consider themselves one of our group and not be afraid to voice their opinion with mentors and engage in constructive discussions.

How will our students benefit from a placement in Hull when back in the classroom?

Our department offers students the chance to experience the full range of audiological tests and treatments with patients ranging from newborn babies through to others aged over 100 years. We have a complement of nineteen staff from newly qualified audiologists to others with over thirty years’ experience. This variety will help demonstrate the implementation of their theoretical skills is not ‘Black & White’. It can help with critical thinking giving them the confidence to question the ‘whys’ and not just the ‘hows’.

What benefit will time spent with you have to our students' future careers?

Experience of a real workplace and the interpersonal skills needed to deal with both patients and work colleagues is invaluable. Over the past 10 years our students have gone on to achieve success in the private sector, (one of our students was Audiologist of the year at Boots), further education, (another was accepted on the MSc Clinical Science at Manchester) and in the NHS we have employed four students from the BSc programme with others gaining employment in audiology departments around the country from London to Liverpool and Wrexham to Chesterfield amongst others.

What is your favourite part of being one of our Clinical Educators?

I love seeing how students develop in both their clinical competence and their confidence. They will start very wary and cautious and as time passes, gain the skills to communicate effectively with both patients and colleagues. Passing on the mantle to a new generation of audiologists that I have been instrumental in training is very satisfying.

How easy is the commute to Hull? (Do students have to stay in local accommodation)?

Students will tend to stay in Hull with accommodation on the Castle Hill Hospital site available. Commuting from Leeds to Hull by car is a very straightforward journey taking about one hour. There is a direct train to Hull Station every hour. If placed at the Hull Royal Infirmary it is a 10-minute walk from the station and a 50-minute bus ride to Castle Hill Hospital. There is a free bus running between the Hull Royal and Castle Hill hospitals if you happen to work across both sites.

What is it like working at Hull, Castle Hill Hospital?

Castle Hill Hospital which is our main placement location is very picturesque; it is situated on the outskirts of Hull on a large site with plenty of open spaces. It has undergone a major upgrade over the past 20 years with the majority of the buildings being either new or being completely upgraded; it looks like a clean up to date hospital.

What is the town/city of Hull like?

Hull is a City on the up; it was voted the UK City of culture for 2017. The city centre has just been completely revamped with new roads and pavements laid, buildings cleaned and renovated and statues and monuments erected. There were many events planned for 2017 with the BBC Radio 1 ‘Big Weekend’ in Hull.
 
We have numerous museums throughout the City with ‘The Deep’ being the countries only ‘Submarium’ incorporating an underwater glass elevator and of course the Humber Bridge when it was built the longest single span bridge in the world and still the longest with a footpath enabling you to walk across it. 
 
William Wilberforce the man that got slavery abolished in the UK heralds from Hull and his old home is now a museum. Hull is a friendly City with plenty of places of interest within the City; I would, a little stereotypically, refer to it as a hidden gem.