Cardiac Physiologist Review

Non-invasive and invasive diagnostic cardiac procedures. Carrying out 12 lead ECGs, fitting 3 lead ECG monitors, exercise tolerance testing, analysing 24 hour ECG monitors. Assisting in the cardiac catheter lab with invasive procedures such as angiograms and percutaneous coronary interventions as well as sitting in on pacemaker implantations and pacemaker follow up clinic.

Yes, I have learnt many new skills in my time on the course. I am confident in my ability to perform ECGs well on my own as well as other non-invasive procedures. I am also more confident in the invasive side of the job which I am able to carry out with supervision.

I enjoy the programme very much. There are thing which I wish were more fluid such as the communication between the university and the clinical tutors which are based at another hospital. The work load is manageable and I enjoy the job I am doing very much, I also feel like I learn a lot in the university lectures especially regarding the clinical theory of the role.

I think there needs to be a little more structure to the academic side of the course, for example we have had long breaks with no assignments due in and then a bulk due in within a few weeks. Within one day we had 3 assignments due in and then less than 2 weeks later an exam.

I feel like I do have a lot of support from my manager / employer and I am able to vocalise what I need, I am given a lot of space to work independently as well as feeling comfortable enough to approach my manager with any issues I may be having.

The main issue with the support from the training provider is that there is not much communication between them and the clinical tutors. I think there needs to be clearer guidelines in regards to marking criteria of our clinical portfolios for example and an example of what is expected would've been beneficial.

I think there are benefits to the lectures at university and I do learn a lot there in clinical modules and modules such as statistics. However I do believe the bulk of my learning is done on the job and the course is very tailored to the full time students rather then the apprentices. For example in second year we learn about empathy in the workplace which although is beneficial is something which is more useful to us when we first start the job rather than when we have had two years in our role.

Not that I know of, however there are charity events to get involved with and different teams do have social nights. As an apprentice we do not have the benefits of social and sports teams at university that the full time students do due to working full time. So sometimes it does feel as though we are missing out on university life.

Yes

I think working in the NHS is a wonderful thing to do and I do believe this course is the best way to become a cardiac physiologist as it is hands on learning and everyone I know who has completed the PTP apprenticeship has come out as a competent physiologist ready to hit the ground running in the role.

I think the most important thing is to understand the role, I think a lot of people do not fully know what the role is and how many different aspects and specialisms there are to it. A friendly and caring nature as well as a hard working mindset can get you very far in the NHS.