A Level Physics students at Nelson and Colne College Sixth Form attended ‘An Evening for Medical Physics’ at The Christie.

Nelson and Colne College Sixth Form has an outstanding and highly regarded Science department, which was recently awarded STEM Assured Status, which recognises excellence in the provision of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education. Each year, students progress onto degree courses in some of the best universities in the country, including Oxford, Cambridge, UCL an Imperial! Not only this, but many go on to work in exciting science based industries, leading the way in innovative and progressive technologies which revolutionise science.

At the Evening for Medical Physics at The Christie, 10 students were able to tour the impressive facilities at the hospital and attend presentations from the various departments, which covered such technologies as Linear accelerators, ultrasound, Magnetic resonance, Ultraviolet radiation and lasers, Photodynamic therapy, radiation protection, Diagnostic radiology, Nuclear medicine imaging, Targeted Radionuclide Therapy, Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging and other forms of medical engineering.

The students were able to find out more about the range of careers available following a course in Physics and The Christie staff were on hand to answer questions about their roles, in addition to representatives from a number of guest organisations such as local universities and the Institute of

of Physics (IoP) and the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM) offering advice.

Joan Peagam, Head of Division for Science, Maths and Engineering said, “The trip to The Christie allowed the students to take part in some excellent sessions which gave them an understanding of the very specialist equipment at this facility. It has also given many of them an insight into the wide variety of careers available in the exciting field of medical physics. The students also attended a presentation by Peter Cole from the University of Liverpool. Peter is an expert in Radiation Protection, and gave a talk on MRI scanners. He was really inspirational and made the students aware of just how exciting medical physics could be.”