Oncology Apprentice Review

I am base in the laboratory most of the time and I work with peripheral blood mononuclear cells. I isolate these and use different lab techniques to study pharmacodynamics in order to determine dosage and scheduling of drugs in the early phases of drug development.

I have developed personal skills such as presentation, communication, time management and more. I have also learnt a number of new lab skills including western blot, cell culturing, sectioning of FFPE blocks, constructing and sectioning TMA blocks, running Peggy Sue capillary western blot, isolating peripheral blood mononuclear cells, preparing cell blocks, and more.

I enjoy being able to apply what I am learning in my course to my everyday work and love that I am able to see the difference my work is making for the patients.

My programme is well organised and structured with lots of people there to support you with different needs.

AstraZeneca has provided a lot of support for skill development. We have had workshops in personal effectiveness, presentation skill and in the use of social media. Along side this, my supervisor and team I work in all give me support and training when I need it.

We have tripartite reviews with our academic supervisor in which we discuss short-term and long -term goals and any issues. For each module there is an allocated member of staff that we can contact with any questions and arrange real-time talks to go over any specific topics that we are unsure about.

it gives me a better understanding of the information behind the different techniques that I carry out in the lab

There are networking events set up for the oncology department quarterly and there is a group for early careers that arrange different socialising events through out the year.

Yes

It is a very innovative organised and friendly place to work.

Be yourself!