Dundee Science Festival
A joint team from the School of Medicine St Andrews and NHS Fife took part in a public engagement day on Saturday October 6th at the Dundee Science Festival. A ‘Medical Technology’ weekend was supported by several teams across nearby regions, including from the University of Dundee and the British Heart Foundation. Mr Henry Rae, Senior Teaching Technician and Dr Devesh J Dhasmana, Respiratory Physician and NRS Research Fellow, were supported by colleagues Olly Kovaljova, Dr Coral Anderson and Dr Cameron Alexander in describing common and current medical practices, with a focus on the lungs and infection and a stall focusing on replacement hips and knees.
A working bronchoscope, a camera used to look inside patients’ lungs was available on loan. A blast (and bones) from the past, testing your lung function (“i have to beat my dad”), together with jigsaw models of the organs of the body (“the liver is massive”…”is that poo?”) were all on show. Young and post-young folk were aplenty, with many questions on their minds. Various prosthetic hip and knee joints provided a great deal of attention and most people knew someone with a replacement hip or knee or had one themselves. All who had a hip replacement reported that it had made a great improvement in their lives.
Thanks go to the British Lung Foundation (blf.org.uk) and colleagues at Olympus for providing supporting materials for the stalls.
Further information on related engagement events or on respiratory and infection research can be obtained by contacting Mr Rae ([email protected]) and Dr Dhasmana ([email protected]).