Eleven year old schoolgirl lives a day in the life of a doctor A primary school girl whose dream is to become a doctor, has been walking the wards with some of the region’s top surgeons. Amelia Hewitt aged 11, entered a competition to win an afternoon talking to doctors. She never imagined that months later she would be guided by a paediatrician on a personal tour of Cambridge University hospitals (CUH). After entering the annual writing competition at Sheredes Primary School in Broxbourne, Amelia was selected as one of 27 finalists, all hoping they would win a day in the life of their dream job. After coming first in the competition Amelia was surprised with a personal tour of CUH with consultant paediatrician, doctor Robert Ross-Russell and co-ordinator, Kirsty Lothian. When she arrived with her mum, Amelia was given her own special pack with a unique hospital badge. During the trip, Amelia was shown the depths of the busy hospital basement which is not open to the public. She was then taken to the neonatal intensive care unit at the Rosie Hospital to meet the team and talk to a mother whose baby was born early at 24 weeks. After this Amelia was able to visit the Clinical skills learning centre to look at the latest technology that student doctor’s use during their training. She saw how patient’s bloods were taken through a dummy arm and examined a prosthetic eye. Amelia’s last stop was to a children’s ward, where she was given a personal tour by one of the play specialists to see where children stay when they are unwell and where they play in the play room. Ameila said: “I really enjoyed my tour and I got to experience all the children’s areas that I’m interested in, I also really liked seeing the newborn babies. I know it’s going to be a lot of hard work but after today I still really want to be a doctor.” With all that experience under her belt, Amelia’s ambition to become a doctor is stronger than ever before. Perhaps in ten years time, we might even see her walking the CUH wards as a qualified doctor.
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 08:07:43 +0000