Kirsty Gordon

"The personality types match closely with me and the work that I do. I lead on many projects which involve the 'Innovator' qualities - I have to be ready and confident to lead but also have the ability to understand what people want and need in order to be able to get the best out of them. I am team orientated and adaptable as although I sometimes work on my own, I am part of a wider laboratory and pathology team. This involves me using my ‘Manager’ qualities. As an influencer I have good attention to detail which is essential when I am viewing and interpreting patient results. This part of my role I do on my own but it can involve teaching or liaising with other clinical colleagues which requires me to be polite and diplomatic. I am good at finding and retrieving information which allows me to keep up to date with current developments in Clinical Biochemistry. This keeps me motivated and open minded to new advances. Ultimately my role is to ensure the best possible care for my patients which takes compassion."

"The main parts of my role involve reviewing and interpreting blood tests results for patients. If I cannot interpret them from the results I have I can request further testing to help me reach a diagnosis. I advise hospital and primary care clinicians regarding appropriate testing. Other aspects involve selecting and evaluating new diagnostic tests and supervising their implementation, this expands to new testing methods and instrumentation too. Quality control is a big part of my role and I am responsible for ensuring that the results we release from the laboratory are correct and of a high enough quality. We participate in internal and external quality control schemes and the laboratories have to remain accredited to ISO 15189:2012 which are a set of rigorous quality standards. I attend various multidisciplinary team meetings across hospital specialities where we discuss complex cases and agree on treatment pathways. This all combines to improve patient outcomes."

"I was inspired to apply for the clinical scientist training programme by a visit to a hospital lab during my university degree. We did a clinical biochemistry module and before that I had no idea that the career existed or how interesting it would be! I was advised by the lecturer to study for a PhD first and so I did that and then my first job was as a trainee clinical scientist. Since then I have followed the career structure for the role and haven't deviated from it."

"In my spare time I love to sew! I make quilts and cushions, bags and clothes. I also like to make cards and enjoy running and yoga. Finding something that you enjoy doing out of work is important to help you switch off from the day to day stresses of the role."

"My typical day as a duty biochemist starts with me reviewing the specialist tests that we send to external laboratories because we are not able to perform them in house. I will then spend some time authorising and interpreting blood test results. I will deal with queries about results from GP's and hospital clinicians throughout the day and will also help the BMS staff with any problems they may have. There will inevitably be some meetings in a typical day and attendance at a multidisciplinary team meeting. There are a lot of emails to answer and most of our meetings now take place using microsoft teams! If I am lucky I will get to drink a hot cup of coffee at some point and enjoy some fresh air on my lunchtime walk."

"I have A-levels in Chemistry, Biology and Maths and studied Biochemistry at St Andrews University. I then went on to do a PhD in Biochemistry. I applied to the training scheme for Clinical Scientists whilst completing my PhD and as part of this obtained an MSc in Clinical Biochemistry. Once in a permanent role as a Clinical Scientist I obtained my HCPC registration and prior to becoming a consultant completed my FRCPath examinations."