In Vivo Bioimaging Apprentice Review

I work in the In Vivo Bioimaging Department who support various research areas to conduct studies using Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Computed Tomography and Optical Imaging. My day to day role varies from planning studies, writing study protocols, attending ethical review meeting, image acquisition and image analysis and report writing. Collaborating with other research areas allows me to work on various disease areas and keeps my daily role high varied.

Before starting my apprenticeship I new very little about imaging, the science behind the technologies and the applications for which it can be used for. I know have a good understanding of how these technologies work and about the various applications they have in the pharmaceutical industry. My experiences have also allowed me to improve my study design skills, some thing I initially found daunting but now have more confidence in. I have also developed better team working skills, my department collaborates with various other times and this has shown me the importance of good communication and organisation.

I greatly enjoy my programme. I love being able to get industrial experience while I also obtain my degree, it is the best of both worlds. I get to use high quality equipment and technologies that I otherwise may not even know existed. In addition to this the apprenticeship network at my company is brilliant, there are always events to attend with other apprentices and development events organised by my company allow us to get to know each other well while building on soft skills.

I think my programme is well structured for the most part. My first was not as well structured as we had a different academic provider which combined two universities. However, since this has changed and we are now only affiliated to one university which has greatly improved things. I would also say that the transition from 3rd to 4th year could be slightly better organised. I am someone who likes to have things arranged early and know what I will be doing well in advance, but at the moment the process from moving from 3rd to 4th year doesn't seem as straight forward as new contracts are required.

My immediate team are extremely supportive and will always help to train me on new techniques and explain new concepts to be well. People outside my immediate team are also always willing to help apprentices to learn to techniques and often allow apprentices to shadow their work and we can experience more areas. Additionally, we have a great mentoring scheme which I know I have greatly benefited from as well as an apprentice buddy scheme.

I think the support from my training provider has greatly improve since the start of my apprenticeship, when we initial had a combination of two universities. Coursework gets marked quickly and if you have questions regarding some of the learning content tutors are normally quick to respond. However, I do feel that for some challenging topics the expertise of the tutors is not varied enough which can lead to some issues in getting answers to more specialised questions. Additionally, there are sometimes minor mistakes in the online learning materials we are provided, this is normally quickly rectified if brought to the attention of tutors but it can sometimes make the learning process more challenging.

My qualification is pivotal to my role. My role involves working on various disease models for which I need to good understanding of biological topics to fully appreciate how the drugs we are testing should/will interact with the diseases we challenge. There are some specific modules I do not find relevant but I do understand that when obtaining a degree you would not typically already be in an industrial setting and therefore learning about as many topics as possible would be vital.

There are many activities to get involved in. I was previous a regional lead for the apprentice network at my place of work who comply monthly newsletters and organise both work based and social events for all apprentices. Apprentices are also invited to events organised by the Industrial placement student network. Furthermore, my company organises yearly development events, all based in entirely different setting always for our typically working environments. We also have the opportunities to attend external conferences/courses if they are relevant to the work that we do.

Yes

If you are the type of person who wants to gain hands on experience while obtaining a qualification GSK would be ideal. There are some many different research areas that you can experience here and the support given to apprentices is brilliant. I feel the apprenticeship scheme has greatly improved since I started almost 3 years ago and I believe it will continue to do so.

Be yourself, the application process is as much about finding out if GSK is right for you as it is for GSK to decide if you are right for them. There is a strong culture at GSK and it is important your views truly align with this if you are to enjoy yourself. I would also say don't be too nervous, people here want you too do well as the application process isn't there to scare you, just to make sure this choice is right for you.