My English placement at Birmingham Children's Hospital

Aimee, an English and Journalism student, completed a placement at Birmingham Children’s Hospital. With many highlights from helping patients tell their stories from front cover articles in local news to helping a patient live out their dream walking out as a mascot.   

Tell us about your placement at BWC NHS Trust?

I completed my professional placement year at Birmingham Children’s Hospital Communications team as a Communications Intern. As part of my role, I regularly drafted articles for my manager to approve for publishing. Once the story was posted I would create a social media post/ video to go alongside it and schedule. I supported with updating the internal intranet staff messaging platform with important messages about protocols and events happening. I also created news pages for the website to include more content. Overall, my role was such a mixture with so many opportunities to build on my skillset and have new experiences. If I had to describe it in four words, I would say it was insightful, inspiring, challenging, and fun.

Tell us about the application process?

My placement year mentor signposted me to the opportunity following an email out to my cohort saying there was one singular position as a Communications Intern at Birmingham Children’s Hospital (BWC NHS Trust). It was something a little different to what I would usually apply for, but I was really intrigued by it as although it was not directly journalism it had elements of everything I was interested in: Writing, social media content creation, interacting with different types of people, events, interviewing and PR. I had lots of support for the application process, working regularly with my mentor on my CV and Cover Letter.

When I was ready, I emailed my cover letter and CV to the Director of the team, along with my answers to some questions that were attached in the job description. I was then invited to an interview where I met with the Director and the Assistant Director of the department, as well as someone who was part of the hospital, but not the department. After this I got taken to another room where I had two interview tasks. One was to write up a news story from a press release, and the other was to answer some scenario-based questions.

What is a typical day like?

A typical day, as cliche as it is to say, was never ever the same. There is always something different, even if it’s only a small difference. Each day I was able to meet the most unique and interesting people; I would hear and get help telling stories that were so inspiring. I will never forget any of the people and families I met whilst working at the hospital. In the early afternoon I would visit the wards for case study interviews for stories and to take pictures of the families doing activities for different events or awareness days. Whilst out and about I would then put up signage for different events or projects.

How has your placement year improved your skills?

Doing a placement year was very important to me; it changed my life. It has shown me another career that I just had not thought of before. Priore to this, I was set on going into a radio newsroom job when I graduated. Now I have discovered the world of communications and working with the NHS communications teams. I never really knew about the work that went into communications at the NHS. The role I had at the trust meant I was able to take an active role in the process of content production. I was honored to be able to do this. It helped me learn how to write for different audiences, how to deal with certain challenging situations, and how to work with different types of people in quite sensitive situations. It has been immensely valuable to me.

What have been your top highlights?

I wrote a story about a little boy with Spina Bifida, and the BBC picked it up. I had only been on placement a couple months. I was so proud of this little boy and how profound he was with talking about his experiences of being a wheelchair user and dealing with accessibility issues. What made this story so special is that he said to me his dream was to meet Aston Villa players and get a high five. Fast forward a few months and I was able to surprise him with a referral to be one of the mascots of a game. He got to sit in the VIP box and was at the front of the procession with the captain of the team. He even featured on ESPN’s Facebook. I was incredibly proud of him.

Another highlight was my first front cover story for the hospital newspaper. It was about a little girl who got to spend her first Christmas at home after spending the previous Christmas in intensive care. I visited the family every week prior to the story being released to give them updates on the story. I really bonded with them. I was over the moon when my boss selected the story to be the front cover.

Finally, when I got to work with a former patient who had been so inspired by the nurses that cared for her, she ended up becoming a nurse working alongside the same people that treated her for Crohn's as a child. Her story was picked up for the front cover of the Worcester Observer, it was amazing. I was also able to help her connect with the Crohn's UK charity to continue to share her story.

Any advice for students currently thinking about undertaking a placement?

Start searching for a placement as early as you possibly can as the journey to finding a placement is challenging, but in the end, it is very rewarding. Definitely don’t box yourself in. There are so many options available that you might not have even heard of before. I didn’t really know the ins and outs of a communications team before I worked full time for a year in one- this was all thanks to my placement. My placement left me feeling very inspired. Another piece of advice is making sure you take notes and pictures (with consent) especially for your reflection. You want to start this early as that way it shows your full journey in real time, which is a lovely thing to have and submit to the university at the end of your placement year.

During your placement, try and keep in contact with a person at university. This makes the transition back to university in third year less challenging, meaning less stress and anxiety for you. Afterwards, try to stay in touch with your placement even after you leave. This maintains networking skills. Believe in yourself and your own potential, always reach out for help if you need it.