Question: Why did you choose your speciality as oppose d to jobs in related fields?

Hannah Scholes answered on 17 Jul 2023:

Hi!

I sort of fell into haematology and blood transfusion almost by accident, I suppose. When I first started working, I was in research and development designing blood tests for lots of different things like IgE (a protein which is often high in people with allergies), malaria, and ebola, as well as some markers for various heart problems. Then the lab I was working in closed down because the company decided they were more interested in developing medicines than blood tests, which sucked because it meant everyone I worked with didn’t have a job anymore 😢.

I saw that the NHS were hiring and so ended up working as part of the team in the blood test reception, and then a lab job came up in the wider team… I applied, and got the job in the lab!
Being in the lab gave me a better idea of what the biomedical scientists did, and so I was able to do a little bit more uni work to change my degree from Biology to Biomedical Science. My boss knew that was what I wanted to do, and let me know when a job came up.. and I suppose the rest is history 🙂

I usually say I took the long way around to get here, but I wouldn’t know half of the people I do or have worked on all the amazing things I’ve been involved in if I hadn’t. 😊