Lauren Craven

Lauren Craven is an Audiologist in the Audiology Department at Mid Yorkshire NHS Trust. If you choose to complete your placement at Pinderfields Hospital Wakefield, you would work with Lauren. She has agreed to answer a few questions to help you better understand how essential the practical element to our course is to your career and securing your first graduate job.

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

As a clinical educator, I support and mentor students who are on placement with us from the University of Leeds. I ensure that students see a variety of patients and appointment types in order to fulfil the requirements of their university logbook. I provide direct supervision with all students and ensure the theory based learning from university is put into practice in the workplace. I also attend regular mentor update sessions at the University of Leeds.

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

Students learn how to put their theoretical skills into practice. They will develop a further understanding of what an audiologist does on a daily basis and how the job impacts on the communication needs of the patients.

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

We expect students to be willing to learn and develop their audiological knowledge. We also expect students to be professional at all times and encourage them to integrate themselves into the team.

How will our students benefit, when back in the classroom, from a placement at Mid Yorkshire NHS Trust?

The practical knowledge students will have gained, will hopefully help to develop the theoretical side of their learning on the course. Students will also develop their communication skills by interacting directly with patients and other staff members within the audiological team.

How will a student's future career be enhanced from time spent with you?

Students will have developed their audiological experience and built up their logbook of ‘signed off’ competencies. Students will also have developed an understanding of how departments work and how to manage patient’s needs. Spending time in a department with varying audiological specialities will hopefully give students an idea of areas they may want to specialise in the future.

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

My favourite part of being a Clinical Educator is watching and helping the student’s transition from student, to a fully qualified audiologist. As a graduate from the University of Leeds myself, I find it interesting to witness the process from a different perspective and use the skills that I developed on my clinical placements to help students.

How easy is the commute from Leeds to Wakefield?

There are regular direct buses from Leeds city centre to Pinderfields Hospital. There are also five trains an hour from Leeds to Wakefield taking 15-20 minutes.

What is the city of Wakefield like?

Wakefield is a small city with excellent transport links direct to London and some great shopping centres. There are some lovely shops, cafes and restaurants along Northgate and around the Bullring area. The city is a cultural destination with the new Hepworth Gallery in the centre and the Yorkshire Sculpture Park nearby.