26 March 2009

Minister to open health careers access conference

Photo opportunity - 9.30 am, Friday March 27th, Discovery Point, Dundee
Minister for Public Health Shona Robison MSP will observe workshop featuring Menzieshill High School pupils and University of Dundee medical students before opening the WHAN conference

Minister for Public Health, Dundee East MSP Shona Robison, will be joined by pupils from Menzieshill High School and University of Dundee medical students to launch a conference that will examine widening access to careers in the health services.

Working in Health Access Network (WHAN) is a Scotland-wide organisation that raises awareness of health-related career opportunities available to young people.

The WHAN Conference 2009 takes place at Discovery Point on Friday and will be opened by Ms Robison after she witnesses a live awareness workshop involving the students and Menzieshill pupils.

Chaired by Professor Sir Graham Catto, President of the General Medical Council, the conference features speakers from health and education authorities and the Scottish Government.

Almost 100 delegates from across Scotland will attend the event, which will assess the impact that WHAN has had in engaging with potential future healthcare workers and how WHAN methodology can best be used to carry on this work.

The WHAN project was funded by the Scottish Funding Council and also partly by the Fife and Tayside Wider Access Forum. The partner institutions include the University of Dundee, Angus College, Dundee College and the University of Abertay.

Gordon Black, Network Liaison Officer for WHAN Tayside, said that in the past few years thousands of Tayside school pupils have attended events promoting the opportunities available to them.

He said, 'As the target group is quite young, it will be a few years before we can gauge the exact level of success we’ve had but the responses we’ve received have been positive.'

'We’ve got pupils thinking about potential careers they wouldn’t have known about, or considered otherwise and I’m confident that the benefits will be seen in a few years time.'

Fifteen third year Menzieshill pupils will be attending the event. Two medical students from the University of Dundee, both of whom will be attending Friday’s demonstration, spent a fortnight at the school assisting in the teaching of health-related topics earlier this year.

Ms Shona Robison said, 'I was very pleased to be able to come along and see first-hand how Working in Health Access Network is working with pupils to encourage their interest in the health profession.'

'The variety and value of healthcare roles is enormous and we need to ensure our schoolchildren are aware of all the opportunities. I am sure the pupils will find the awareness workshop engaging and prompt them to think about whether a career in healthcare is something they might wish to explore further.'

NOTES TO EDITORS
TaysideWHAN is currently working with pupils in the following schools

Angus

• Arbroath Academy
• Arbroath High School
• Brechin High School
• Forfar Academy

Dundee

• Baldragon Academy
• Braeview Academy
• Menzieshill High School
• St. John’s High School
• St. Paul’s Academy

Perth & Kinross

• Blairgowrie High School
• Perth Grammar School
• Perth High School
• St. Columba’s High School

The three-year WHAN project comes to an end in July. Staff have worked to raise awareness of studying for a career in the health professions, particularly at schools with a lower-than-average transfer of pupils to higher education.

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate,
Dundee, DD1 4HN

TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk