I'm Here

Hi Everyone,

After an amazing send off back in Sheffield, I finally boarded the plane for Toronto Canada. Having never travelled on my own before the whole experience was new for me. I had a teary goodbye with Lee at the gate but I knew I was being given an amazing opportunity that only comes along once in a blue moon.

The flight was loooooooonnnggg! Due to the volcanic ash we were held back at LHR and then had to fly via Greenland and then had to await a slot at Pearson's International to land. But I finally touched down and was eager to get my luggage and head to the hotel. Unfortunately I had immigration to deal with first. They never let me through easily as I was born in the Abu Dhabi and always have lots of questions to ask. Unless of course I just genuinely look suspicious.

I am staying at the Metropolitan hotel in Toronto, which has the most amazing retro decor (not on purpose I may add) my radio alarm clock is definitely an 80's original. The location though is fantastic and I can see the lake from my window in the distance.

So yesterday was my first visit with Michener staff and students (The Michener Institute for Applied Health Sciences and University of Toronto, faculty of Medicine). Everyone was really friendly and interested in my project. I spoke at length with students about why they chose a career in Radiotherapy and if they ever 'wobbled' about their decision. They were amazingly open and articulate, with many saying that they stumbled upon radiotherapy by accident, because they didn't have the grades (GPA) to get into medicine, pharmacology or dentistry. Like many UK students they had never heard of radiation therapy prior to researching it as a career option.

Many of the students are post grad and have either completed a degree already or have undertaken a single year at degree level. They also fund themselves through their studies, which I do think makes them more dedicated to do well and achieve their degree. It was interesting to discover that the wages once qualified are much higher than in the UK at about £35,000, compared to our starting salary of approximately £21,000. Some of them did say that it was due to the financial rewards of the job that interested them. The job situation in Canada is not great at the moment with many places having job freezes or is staffed already. So the job opportunities are not what they used to be.

I met with the academic coordinator of the Medical Radiation Sciences program to discuss the current issues they have surrounding student recruitment and attrition. It was interesting that they also struggle to recruit. They usually have around 50 students on the Radiation Therapy Course and have really struggled recruiting over the past two years.

Students entering onto the course may not necessarily be placed on clinical in Toronto and this did cause many issues for students, as it does for our students when they aren't located in Sheffield. Interestingly though a student counsellor is used to decide on individual students circumstances and decide whether they need to move departments or not. As it is confidential the academics may not know the reasons why an individual student has to move clinical department. This takes a lot of pressure off of the course leader and clinical supervisors.

I could go on for hours about everything I have learnt today.....but breakfast is calling me.

Will blog again soon.

Jo