Helen Hodgson

" I matched with Communicator, Developer and Influencer and I believe the personality types fit very well for me.Communicating is definitely something I am unafraid of. I am not usually shy and I love to chat!I am friendly, open and honest and getting on well with others is important to me. This makes me able to adapt to the variety of situations I find myself in, especially at work. I'm also not afraid to apologise or admit to making mistakes. However, being a good communicator is also about listening in order to understand fully and then only providing advice and feedback when asked. Developing ideas is something I have grown in confidence with over the course of my career. The WISE project is a prime example of this. I applied for a place on a leadership program with the honest opinion that the application process would be an excellent experience for me at my career level. To my astonishment I succeeded and was chosen as one of 35 women in science in the UK to carry out a healthcare project.There is so much I want to do and because I avoid relying on others, there isn't usually anything preventing me from at least trying. However, I am not afraid to ask for help and usually someone with a skill I lack is happy to contribute. Likewise, I am keen to offer to assistance when required.There are two sayings, \"if you think you can or you think you can't, you're right\" and \"life is too short for what if's\".Influencer was a surprise but a very pleasant one.Deep down I think this is something I have always wanted to be. I have drive and passion in most of what I do in life and I want others to feel the same way.I like meeting new people and at work, especially, I take time to explain what's involved and hopefully people have an appreciation for what I do. Sometimes I lack confidence and suffer from 'imposter syndrome'. However, this simply drives me even more to prove I am the right person for the task. I am getting good at hiding self-doubt and so people seem to believe in me. I'm not afraid to ask for something because the worst thing would be simply to be told \"no\". I am also good at choosing projects and tasks which are within my capability, even if they're out of my comfort zone."

"My job involves performing a range of diagnostic cardiac investigations on people with known or suspected heart conditions. Many procedures involve working with others, for example, in the cardiac catheter lab where coronary artery disease is evaluated and treated, we work alongside doctors, radiographers and nursing staff. The NHS is very much a team of professionals from different disciplines who all play a part in the care of patients.I have become specialised in echocardiography so tend to work independently on most days, in that I am alone with the patient. I enjoy this because I like to build trust and rapport with people, it's important to me that they feel at ease and confident that I am doing my best for them. "

"I have always been interested in working for the NHS probably because my mum, who was a district nurse, used to take me to work with her.I was also fascinated by medical documentaries on TV, the more graphic the better!I then had an opportunity to visit the mortuary at my local hospital and this became a regular voluntary role, where I gained experience and confidence in the hospital environment.This developed my interest in anatomy and physiology and I decided I wanted to be involved further but in an environment where I could communicate with patients. Diagnostic investigations seemed the perfect fit for me so I applied and was offered a position as a student. At the time training was like an apprenticeship so I worked full-time and went to college one day a week to study for the necessary qualifications. I progressed through the different academic levels from ONC, HNC and eventually degree level, alongside in-house training in the many specialist areas of diagnostic cardiology."

"At home I am married to Andy and we have two children, Tom is 21 and Megan who's 17. I love family dinners and movie-nights and we usually take it in turns to choose a film and then all rate them out of 10. We all like to keep fit by exercising regularly and enjoy cooking everything from scratch in order to have a healthy diet. I go to group session called EcoFitness and we do circuits outdoors but I also like to do online HIIT sessions, usually with the Body Coach.My best friend is my dog, Buddy, and we do lots of walking and sometimes cani-cross and paddle boarding together.My other hobbies include writing comical parodies, playing the ukulele and tap dancing classes. I think fun and laughter is so important in life .Because there's never enough time at work to do everything I want to, much of my free time is spent extending my own knowledge of cardiology. I have a special interest in a condition called Atrial Fibrillation (AF). I am an associate lecturer in the subject at UWE, Bristol and I provide training for Health Coaches. In 2018 I set up a support group for patients with the condition, in affiliation with the UK's AF Association, and am working on \"AF Matters\", a podcast to provide patients with information and advice."

"Because my specialism is Echocardiography (echo), I spend the majority of my working day performing these Cardiac ultrasound scans. I see about six patients each session and I thoroughly enjoy it. It's quite a skillful procedure and I've been doing this for about 25 years in total so I have gained a lot of experience. I still find that visualising of the heart's structure on screen absolutely fascinating and, although it may seem strange to admit, it's much more interesting to see abnormalities and pathologies. The heart can malfunction in a number of ways and because it is so adaptable, structural and functional changes very often occur and is this what we're looking for on an echo.I also find patients themselves fascinating and am usually able to build a good rapport during our time together. It's very important to make them feel comfortable and at ease in what can often be a frightening environment. Meeting so many people means I am fortunate to learn their life stories any patients have had interesting experiences. Many are elderly and sometimes very ill and talking is mutually beneficial. I thoroughly enjoy listening and getting to know them and am amazed by how people feel able to be so open and honest with someone they have never met before. I like to believe it's because they feel safe and secure and it's an honour and a privilege for me, which provides many important and sometimes very amusing life lessons. "

"BTEC ONC Applied Science - full time course post 16BTEC ONC Medical Physics and Physiological Measurements (MPPM) - part-time day release via NHSBTEC HNC MPPM - part-time day and block release via NHSBSc Physiological Measurement (Technical Cardiology) - part-time block release via NHS"