Liz Hemingway

Liz Hemingway is an Audiologist in the ENT Department at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. If you choose to complete your placement at Bradford Royal Infirmary, you would likely work with Liz. She has agreed to answer a few questions to help you better understand how essential the practical element to our BSc Healthcare Science (Audiology) course will be to your career. 

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

Our main role is to give the students the opportunity to practise and develop the clinical skills they’ve been taught in the classroom on real patients! We all have regular sessions with a student, where we directly supervise them as they gradually take on more of each appointment and give advice and feedback on how they are developing. I try to organise a variety of clinical sessions, including assisting in more specialised sessions for added interest. I also attend regular meetings at the University about clinical placement issues and to keep updated on the logbook requirements, which is then fed back to all the educators in the department.

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

Apart from the obvious developing of clinical skills, one of the main things they learn is how to develop a rapport with patients/clients of different ages and abilities. The skill of managing your patient, so they have confidence and trust in you, can take varying amounts of time to develop. They also learn about the importance of time management very quickly!

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

I expect them to try and be good timekeepers and behave professionally when dealing with patients. But most importantly I just expect them to be enthusiastic and willing to learn - everything else develops much more easily if they're wanting to get the most out of the placement experience! 

How will our students benefit, when back in the classroom, from a placement at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust?

Hopefully, all the theory makes much more sense when they've been able to put it in to practise! Seeing the practical application of what they are learning, and how that can transform patients' lives, is hopefully a good motivation for when they are back studying hard in the classroom!

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

Spending time in a hospital department gives a good grounding in all aspects of assessment and rehabilitation which can then be used in any branch of Audiology they choose to work in, whether in the NHS or private sector. In addition, they also get plenty of exposure to specialist areas such as paediatrics, vestibular and implantable devices which hopefully inspires students to plan the direction of their future career. Also, making a good impression in the departments they spend time in can only be beneficial when it comes to applying for any jobs in those departments later on!

What is your favourite part of being one of our clinical educators?

It's really rewarding seeing how students develop over the placements, and in some cases completely transform into a different person!  I also enjoy the opportunity it gives me to attend meetings and training at the University and meet up with colleagues in other departments in the region. And finally, it’s great bumping into past students at professional meetings, conferences etc. and catching up on how their careers have developed and seeing what experienced audiologists they are now!