Jodie Hampel

"I matched with the 'coach' personality type, and I think this is because I love to help people understand what they can do. It is a really great feeling when you see someone really figure something out and understand it for themselves. It is much better than just telling someone what to do, and it can inspire further change and enthusiasm in improving what they do. In healthcare the end result is often improving the lives or experiences of patients, which makes it even more worthwhile.I also matched with 'quality controller' and everyone in my office will agree that I like things to be organised! I find that if you spend time planning and organising how a job will be done, then it makes it so much easier next time you come to do it! I try to do this with everything I do, although sometimes I don't manage it, and I've learned that sometimes it is not possible to do absolutely everything, and that's okay.'Developer' is a great personality type, and I think it is one of the best things about being a scientist! We get to take ideas and turn them into something real! I love the process of doing this as it is a chance to try and test things and create real-life experiments. :)"

"I work in a hospital and get involved with anything that involves radiation! That includes x-rays, CT scanners, and even radioactive patients. Every day is different and I never know exactly what I will have to face; sometimes it is figuring out why equipment that uses radiation is not behaving as it should, sometimes it is measuring how radioactive our patients are, and sometimes I train other staff how to deal with incidents where everyone and everything is covered in radioactivity! I get to problem solve, which is one of my favourite things to do, and at the end of it, if my team and I have done our jobs right, we will have made things a little bit better for the staff or the many patients who come into our hospitals to have x-rays or other treatments. When you finish university you can join the Scientist Training Programme run by the National School for Healthcare Science; you get paid as a band 6 member of staff to do this (~£32,000 per year currently). As soon as you finish the 3-year long training scheme you can apply for band 7 jobs (~£39,000 per year currently)."

"I never knew what I wanted to do when I grew up. I studied Physics at university because I liked it and I was good at it, I also thought it would give me lots of job options. While I was studying I decided that I didn't want to work in an office, and that's when I found out about medical physics. The idea of working in a hospital and helping others excited me so I applied for the NSHCS STP (Scientist Training Programme).It was really competitive and I had the weirdest interview experience ever. It was set up like speed dating where all candidates were in the room and initially sat with their back to the interviewer, then a bell rang and you turned round to be interviewed. There were four stations and you spent ten minutes at each. It was surreal.I was surprised and excited when I got a place and I trained all over London before I decided to specialise in diagnostic radiology and radiation safety. "

"I loved netball at school and I still enjoy playing now – it helps that I’m quite tall!I also run a children’s choir on Saturday mornings, which I really enjoy. I love music and decided this would be a nice way to enjoy making music and at the same time I'd get to teach kids how much fun music can be. We meet every week and we sing a lot of Disney songs! We do end of term concerts for friends and family and it’s so rewarding.I also have a puppy who I like to take on long walks and train him to do fun tricks. His name is Riley and he is a very fluffy goldendoodle. He is very cute and very cheeky and has great fun doing naughty things like digging up trees in the garden and jumping up to hide his toys in the sofas (which he isn't allowed on!)."

"I really have no typical day at work as I never know what is going to happen but here are some of the things I might do:8am - arrive at work, make and eat my breakfast while I check my emails and deal with anything that needs to be done there9am - deliver radiation safety training for new members of staff10am - do a risk assessment for a pregnant member of staff who works with radiation11am - time for a quick tea break and checking emails12pm - talk to a patient who needs to swallow a radioactive iodine tablet to treat their thyroid disease, and make sure they know how to be safe while they are radioactive for the next 3 weeks, reassure them and answer any questions they might have1pm - lunch and a walk around the hospital2pm - take all the necessary equipment and go to test a CT scanner that has been serviced that morning4:30pm - make sure I am happy with the CT scanner and that it is performing as it should be, tell the radiographers they can use it on patients again, tidy up and go home"

"I took Maths, Physics, Music and History at A Level, and applied for universities offering either Physics or Physics with/and Music courses. The pure physics courses only wanted Maths and Physics and any other subject, whilst the ones with a music option also wanted a Music A Level. So I dropped history after AS level and carried on with the other three. In the end I decided to just do Physics and carry on Music as a hobby. I picked the University of Surrey, because it was the university that i liked the feel of the most when I went to visit on open days. It was actually my lowest offer, but I still put it top choice because I just had a really good feeling about the place, the campus and the department.At university I studied physics, and then applied to the STP. Once I got onto the STP, I had to complete an MSc in medical physics (which was paid for and provided by the STP), and I had to complete all of the competencies required to form a portfolio, and pass all of the practical exams at the end of the STP in order to be eligible to register as a Clinical Scientist. Clinical Scientist is a protected title, which means that to be one, your name must be on a register and this shows that you are competent and accountable to do your job. You must be on this register to do my job."