StudentWork Placements
Student experience
Student experience
Christina Winkler (Applied Freshwater and Marine Biology)
Jennifer Faherty (Graduate of Applied Biology and Biopharmaceutical Science) I started my work placement after completing my final year exams, this meant that I had a wealth of knowledge to draw upon. I gained placement in Mylan , as a Quality Control Analyst. While on a tour
I went to Iceland for five months on my placement to work as an On-board Naturalist for Elding Adventure at Sea . This gave me the opportunity to work on a boat for the first time and become a part of a crew. The work meant a lot of responsibilities, but at the same time
being rewarded by most amazing wildlife interactions in one of the most stunning places on this planet. In advance of my placement, I needed to complete a number of courses to be certified to work on these boats. These can be costly, but the college offer a package for most of them and once you have them, they are valid for five years. I found that it is an advantage to have another language for roles like this to work with most companies in Iceland. They have very busy summer seasons, so in order to have you sufficiently trained they prefer if your available to work with them for a number of months. It was tough work but a great learning experience. I really had the best time ever. I met fantastic people and the atmosphere on the boats was just awesome. I felt like a real part of the team and am planning to go back (if I get into the Masters course).
of the production area, I remember feeling nervous, however, once the tour had begun, I remember feeling comfortable as there was nothing on that tour that was new to me. The Applied Biology and Biopharmaceutical course had prepared me for all aspects of industry, this is thanks to the outstanding GMIT lecturers that had years of industry experience and for passing on their knowledge to me. I was kept in my role until August when I was then offered a role as Quality Assurance Executive in Mylan. My student work placement gave me the experience I needed to further my career.
Student experience
Aoife McEnery (Medical Science) As part of the Medical Science course, I completed my 27-week clinical placement in Sligo University Hospital (SUH). This was a big change from the comfort of our small laboratory groups in GMIT to the busy working environment of a hospital. I rotated
Student experience
Johanna Fogarty Flood (Public Health and Nutrition)
between different laboratories namely: Biochemistry, Haematology, Blood Transfusion, Microbiology and Histology. This gave me a flavour of the various diagnostic tests that Medical Scientists perform in each laboratory every day. There was a great variety of testing from the use automated analysers in Biochemistry to manual microtomy of tissue samples in Histology. I really got to understand the importance of the Quality Management module that I studied in third year throughout my rotations. Quality management is evident in all laboratories and ensures the reporting of the right result for the right patient at the right time. Additionally, as part of the Clinical Placement module, I spent a week in the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) in St. James’ Hospital in Dublin. This afforded me the fantastic opportunity to experience a different work environment and consider a career in a blood and tissue establishment. Without a doubt my clinical placement in SUH was one of the many highlights of my Medical Science studies in GMIT. I was able to apply theory into practice and see what laboratory interested me most. From my clinical placement, I acquired many skills such as flexibility, prioritisation of tasks and teamwork which I will bring forward into my working career as a Medical Scientist.
For my placement I worked in Cope Galway in their community catering section in a social enterprise called Meals4Health. I loved my placement and thoroughly enjoyed working there. The project I worked on was creating ready meals for people with
Dysphagia. It drew on a lot of aspects of my learning from college, such as the use of Nutritics, the dietary requirements of the elderly and the skills I have learned from doing independent and team assignments, I learned so much more as well. The main thing I took away from my placement is confidence in the knowledge that I have acquired throughout the course and that things I’d learned over the last three years that I didn’t even realise I’d known were useful information. I saw how much we have learned is applied when working, and I surprised myself by drawing on aspects of our learning. I loved my placement and honestly would’ve loved if I could’ve stayed on for longer.
www.gmit.ie/science/student-work-placements-science
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