Over 10 Years of Service

Dave Stewart has worked as a Service User at the UEA for over ten years and so we decided to interview him to see why he donates so much of his personal time to helping out working within The School of Health Sciences and The Medical School.

How did you first get involved as a Service User at the UEA and what tasks did you perform in those early days?

I responded to a request from a UEA lecturer who had been requested to try and recruit members of the public to act as Service Users. I had just taken very early retirement, and this seemed like a worthwhile project to become involved in.

My first activity was to participate in Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI’s). This is where four students enter a room to find four desks and four interviewers waiting for them. The students sit in the middle of the room with each student facing towards a different interviewer and are requested to read a card containing the question for that ‘interview station’. They are allowed some time to consider their response and then they move forward to join the interview and a 5-minute interview takes place. After 5 minutes, the students return to the middle of the room but rotate one seat so that they face a different interviewer and the whole process is repeated. Once they have been interviewed by all four interviewers, they leave the room and the next group of four students arrive and the interview process is repeated.

I had previous interview experience and so this process did not cause me any concern, but even without previous experience, the UEA personnel were always helpful, patient and tolerant with the Service Users.

When did you stop performing these UEA interviews?

I haven’t stopped, although the COVID pandemic has meant that face-to-face interviews are no longer possible for the safety of the students and the interviewers. Since the pandemic, I still participate in student interviews but now I do these online using computer software such as MS Teams or ‘Blackboard’. I enjoyed participating in these interviews at the start, and despite the change of format, I am still enjoying being involved in them some ten years later.

You have stated that you work for both the School of Health Sciences and The Medical School. What type of interviews have you performed over those 10 years?

I believe that I have covered every possible type of medical interview apart from Midwifery interviews. For The Medical School I have interviewed Clinical Psychology students and General Medical students (these students are probably still considering where they see their future medical career. Some will be considering a career as a GP, or a Ward Doctor whilst others may wish to eventually move into specialised fields such as surgery). For the School of Health Sciences, I have interviewed students wishing to specialise in Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language, Physiotherapy, Adult Nursing, Mental Health Nursing, Children’s Nursing, Learning Difficulties Nursing, Operating Department Practitioners and Paramedic Science.

Do you need to have any special medical skills to be able to interview medical students?

You do if you are one of the Academic or Clinical interviewers, but for the Service User interviewer you just need to be able to be friendly, polite and engage with the student (who is probably feeling very nervous). You are not there to measure their possible clinical skills but rather to get a feeling for their personality. Would they make a good student for the UEA to accept?

In my case, I have performed a 12-hour night shift with Paramedics in an ambulance and a 12-hour day shift in a Rapid Response Vehicle just to appreciate the type of work they perform and what pressures they face. This gave me a valuable insight into the type of person needed to perform this vital job role and I believe it improved my interview technique.

Is interviewing the students the only type of work that Service Users at the UEA can perform?

No, the list of ways in which Service Users can become involved is endless and new opportunities are often being created as circumstances change. During my ten years with the UEA I have been invited to get involved a wide range of different activities:

I have acted as a ‘Professional Patient’ for nursing students. This is where the students get to practise taking blood pressure, temperature, breathing rate, pulse and oxygen saturation.
For many years, I have assisted with the teaching module ‘Injection Techniques’ where nursing students are taught how to perform Inter-muscular and sub-cutaneous injections.
I have also attended reviews by various medical authorising bodies such as the Health can Care Professions Council (HCPC) and the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) where they audit and ensure all the standards are being followed and as part of that review includes meeting with a small panel of Service Users to check that they are being integrated into the various programmes and playing an active part.
I have taken part in student examinations (both ‘mock’ and final) across both Schools.

I have been requested to role-play various medical situations in order that lecturers can watch how students react in what would appear to be a real-life situation.
I have been invited to review projects that students in their final year have completed and to give my feedback.
When a lecturer was forced to withdraw from an education session at very short notice, I was asked if I could stand in and give three 45-minute talks to nursing students on whatever subject that I wanted to talk about. I choose to talk about why men are so reluctant to seek medical help and received some incredible feedback from the students.
I also take part in regular webinars where I discuss a disastrous medical event that happened to me and then ask the students (who have already qualified but have returned for additional qualifications) how they would have tackled the same event and what they would have done (if anything) differently.
I have worked, with others, on creating the Service User Handbook. This is a jointly produced document that outlines what UEA staff need to do when engaging Service Users and conversely what Service Users should do when requested to participate.

I have been invited to work as part of the project team to introduce a new nursing curriculum (which has now been approved and it is in place).
I have been invited to assist lecturers with various training courses, usually either role-playing the part of a member of the public or else giving a patient’s feedback as to how the students tackled the training scenario.
I have also been honoured to represent the UEA at ‘Open Days’ and ‘Applicant Days’. Before the pandemic I would be invited to be on the stage in the lecture theatre and talk about my experience within the UEA as a Service User. But since the pandemic, I now perform more of a ‘floating role’ meeting and greeting potential students and their friends/family, and then escorting them around the buildings whilst answering their questions. This is probably my favourite role with the University because I have no problem in letting everyone know just how proud that I am to be a volunteer working within the UEA. The University is one of the best in the UK (some would say the World) and it is staffed by a friendly, dedicated and knowledgeable group of individuals – many of whom were here when I first started ten years ago. I have no problem in telling potential students and their families that the UEA is THE place to come and study, and I can list dozens of reasons why.

Where do you see the Service User role going in the future?

The role of the Service User is expanding. The medical Regulatory bodies now insist that this happens and the UEA has always involved Service Users in wide range of activities as our opinion is not only sought, but it is valued. UEA academics, clinicians and Service Users all work as one team to deliver the best possible outcome for every student. After ten years, I still get a lump in my throat when a student comes up to me and says ‘thank you’ or sends feedback via a lecturer how much they appreciated my involvement or my input in their journey through the UEA.

The UEA is always exploring ways in which it can engage and involve Service Users, although this has not been quite so easy since the pandemic.

Can we get you to write another article in another ten years’ time?

Of course. I’m not planning on leaving the UEA. Being a Service User at the UEA is very rewarding and it’s always a pleasure to represent the University.