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    From the lecture theatre to life-saving diagnostics | Sarah Booth

    Original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdeaQGeAlXA

    As a diagnostic radiographer in the NHS, Sarah acts as a critical, first-contact professional who operates cutting-edge technology to take images of the insides of patients to help understand and diagnose conditions and injuries. She works across emergency departments (A&E), operating theatres, and wards, working and consulting with colleagues to support patients until their treatment ends. When she’s not on the NHS frontline, Sarah is a lecturer in radiography at Keele, where she is inspiring and educating the next generation of radiographers and passing on her knowledge and skills acquired from working in the NHS for more than 10 years.

    My name is Sarah Booth. I’m a Lecturer in Radiography at Keele University, and I’m also a Diagnostic Radiographer for Lancaster Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

    I work full-time for Keele and continue to work clinically. I generally do an eight- to nine-hour shift. It’s challenging and it’s tiring, but I wouldn’t change it. Radiography is fast-paced: one minute you might be in resus with a major trauma patient, and the next you could be carrying out neonatal imaging on a 24-week-old baby. It’s fast, and you have to be able to adapt to constantly changing situations.

    One of the main challenges in radiography is the unknown. However, a massive advantage for students is that this is a real-life environment. The equipment is exactly what they would experience in clinical departments. We now have the ability to simulate situations in ways we couldn’t 10 or 20 years ago. We can mock up specific scenarios and give students hands-on experience. The ability to transition between the classroom, practical rooms, seminar rooms, and the CT scanner all shapes the learning experience and better prepares students for the clinical care environment.

    I was working in higher education when the COVID pandemic started. I contacted the clinical department and returned to clinical practice to support the pandemic response. That experience of supporting my profession, my colleagues, and my friends will stay with me for a very long time. I would go back to the university on a Monday after completing a 10-hour shift the day before, with a clear understanding of what was happening clinically and the situations our students would be facing. That was six years ago, and I’ve continued to work clinically ever since, following on from the pandemic. For me, that is probably my proudest achievement.