For Students

As a student member, you are entitled to all the benefits of a full membership, such as having full voting rights, receiving a copy of the Journal of Visual Communication in Medicine, free entry into the IMI awards, attendance to regional meetings and more.

Student Representative to Council

Every two years, a new student member of IMI from one of our accredited courses has the chance to become the Student Representative to Council. This is a fantastic opportunity to engage in IMI Council meetings and learn more about the inside workings of the Institute.

The role of the Student Representative is to act on behalf of the student members of IMI. We encourage comments and suggestions from student IMI members, so that these can be communicated to the IMI Council during Council meetings. Your representative also attends Education meetings, where new materials that benefit Student members are produced.

Biography from your Student Representative – Luke White

My name is Luke, and I am the Student Representative for IMI. On the completion of studying my BA Hons degree at the University of Derby, I knew I wanted to work within the NHS and therefore started to develop an interest in clinical photography. At the end of 2021, I became employed by University Hospitals Birmingham as a Trainee Clinical Photographer.

I applied for the role to become student representative of IMI as I would like to make IMI more recognisable through our profession and help more students pursue a career within clinical photography. I would like to expand the number of resources for students and develop how students are involved with IMI.

I am keen to communicate more with students, through either email, Facebook and other forums. Please do not hesitate to get in contact with me regarding any queries you may have as an IMI student member.

If you have any suggestions, please email them to Luke: student@imi.org.uk

IMI Members Facebook Group

Join the IMI Members Facebook Group which is open to all members of the Institute.

Peter Kilshaw Student Award

Each year the Institute of Medical Illustrators hold a competition to showcase the excellence of work that is created by its members. The Peter Kilshaw Student Award is given in memory of Peter Kilshaw and is open to all IMI Student members that are on a recognised course. The best student entry will receive the Peter Kilshaw award and a prize of £100. Students who enter the awards are also eligible for bronze, silver, gold and platinum awards.

Peter Kilshaw Student Award Winners

 

2023 – Nicola Ross

Hints and Tips for Interview Preparation

 

Whether you are new out of training, or have been in the profession for a number of years,
going for an interview can be a nerve-racking experience.

Here are a few tips to help you through the process.

Interview_tips (1)

Portfolio Advice

 

This Portfolio Workshop was presented at conference in 2018 by Simon Brown, Carol Fleming and Jane Tovey. These three individuals share a wealth of recruitment and interview experience between them.

The short-listing and application process for NHS posts is now very mechanical and is principally based upon Job Descriptions and Person Specifications so if interviewees are invited to present their portfolios at interview – this provides an invaluable opportunity to demonstrate their skills and it should be used wisely.

However, there are many pitfalls and portfolios should be carefully compiled for a specific post. Most applicants show too much work and don’t edit appropriately – if they can’t distinguish the good from the not so good then prospective new employers won’t be able to either in the short time permitted.

The following presentation provides some useful pointers.

Portfolio Workshop October 2018

 

Practitioner's Biographies

 

We asked ten practitioners to share their experience so far

Student Biogs 2020

Advice from Educational Organisations supporting IMI student members during the COVID-19 Pandemic

IMI asked the accredited University courses to provide information on how education will be delivered for those completing their current courses and their approach to the delivery of future courses given the current COVID-19 pandemic. The following questions were asked:

· If guidance has been produced by your organisation on how you expect programmes and assessments to be delivered to still meet your accreditation requirements?

· Is the guidance currently available interim or final?

· Is there guidance and reassurance available to students too?

Staffordshire University

‘As course leader for our medical illustration programme, I can confirm that Staffordshire University remain committed to supporting our students.’

As you know, our Clinical Photography courses already exist as distance learning, so attendance at the University is not required for taught sessions. Students managed to complete work for their first module. We obviously have a direct relationship with our current students and they have reported they were reassured by the plans we put in place to assist them.

To assist current students further, we have introduced a number of Zoom sessions that they can join to discuss assignment work and we have provided an alternative assignment for the first practical assignment on the second module, to ensure it can be completed in light of changes within departments.

We will, of course, continue to monitor the situation around COVID to ensure students are able to complete course work, moving forward.

Lou Reynolds – Course leader / Work based learning fellow

Cardiff University

‘No student should be disadvantaged in terms of their achievement as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.’

If guidance has been produced by your organisation on how you expect programmes and assessments to be delivered to still meet your accreditation requirements?

Guidance has been produced by Cardiff University to support the delivery of programmes and other services. Policies and procedures have been developed and new systems put in place to support students, staff and to accommodate new methods of working as a result of COVID-19. Example guidance includes:

i. Cardiff University Executive Board have issued a document outlying the principles and approach to education and student life. In this document the following principles apply:

· Prioritise the health, safety and wellbeing of students and staff

· Compliance with government regulations

· Providing a consistently high-quality learning experience for all students

· Continue to assure and maintain the academic standards and quality of all provision

ii. The University have produced the ‘Safety net policy for 2019/20’ which sets out “no student should be disadvantaged in terms of their achievement as a result of the coronavirus pandemic” and how this should be applied to practice. The policy is to ensure that qualifications awarded by the University:

· are valid and reliable

· are of an equivalent standard to degrees awarded in previous years

· where applicable fulfil the requirements of the relevant Professional, Statutory and regulatory Bodies (PSRBs)

iii. The University recognises that the coronavirus outbreak is a significant disruption, causing all students to experience exceptional circumstances and so the University has put in place a new extenuating circumstances policy for the coronavirus lockdown period.

The PgCert Clinical Photography sits within the School of Healthcare Sciences (HCARE) at Cardiff University. Not only has guidance been produced at a University level, but HCARE have reviewed the delivery of all programmes and student support within the School. HCARE have also been in regular communication with the commissioning body for Trainee Clinicial Photographers in Wales (Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW)). HEIW are aware of the impact of COVID-19 on programmes and have committed to support students until they have completed their studies.

The PgCert Clinical Photography is being delivered to still meet programme, university and accreditation requirements. The programme and module learning outcomes have been reviewed and where required, measures have been applied to ensure the learning outcomes continue to be met, standards maintained, and that students are not disadvantaged. Example measures include:

· Extensions have been given to assessment deadlines. The format of assessment remains the same

· Online learning materials have been developed, this is ongoing

· Two face-to-face study days (June 2020) are being delivered online rather than face-to-face

Amy Lake – Lecturer and Programme Manager, Clinical Photography

Glasgow School of Art

‘All students should be treated equally, and no student should be academically disadvantaged by the impact of Covid-19 and, furthermore, that no student should be advantaged or disadvantaged relative to their peers…’

As a programme taught jointly with the University of Glasgow, the MSc in Medical Visualisation and Human Anatomy was able to continue with teaching under the wider arrangements put in place at the University, where teaching for Semester 2 was moved online. Teaching and assessment activities for remaining Stage 2 courses were conducted online. Outside of mode of delivery, the courses Introduction to Anatomy and Structure and Function of the Human Body were not affected

by the closure of the GSA and UofG. The final course – Cadaveric Dissection – could not be delivered as intended, and an abbreviated online course on Cadaveric Dissection utilising digital images and examples as the basis of teaching is being delivered instead. Due to the change in nature of this course, a simple pass/fail grade will be awarded for this element instead of the normal grade.

Students will be offered a short course on Cadaveric Dissection at a future date to be determined to allow them to meet any professional accreditation requirements. It is anticipated that this will happen after the end of the MSc. Progression and award calculations will be determined based on a weighted calculation of grades from those courses with a grade attached.

Accordingly, within GSA itself, teaching was suspended with the closure of the campus. This also meant that students with resubmissions due from Stage 1 at GSA were unable to continue with resubmission work.

The decision has been taken that failing a single assessment exercise does not preclude a student being able to Pass the year or PGT Stage successfully, and progress. For those students who do fail the year or PGT Stage, a separate re-sit opportunity will be provided at the next available assessment date in order to allow an opportunity for academic progression.

This situation will obviously have an impact on external examining for this academic year. While there are still some details being finalised, wherever possible, the Glasgow School of Art will seek to operate its normal principles in relation to the role of External Examiners and the relevant school or department will contact you regarding any deviation from the operation of your normal duties. This may include carrying out tasks remotely, changes to the dates of the GSA Final Examination Boards, and an invitation to attend the Board via electronic means, such as Zoom. If you have any immediate queries, please feel free to contact staff in the school or department directly.

Daniel Livingstone – Programme Leader, School of Simulation and Visualisation

University of Dundee

For information regarding the University of Dundee’s response to Covid-19, please contact Caroline Erolin, Senior Lecturer in Medical Art.