Second Year Paramedic Students

 

Following on from our initial visit with the Students in March (which you can read more about here); Support Development Officer Coreen along with members Richard and  David returned to Glasgow Caledonian University on the 18^th April 2023 to hear presentations by the students based on the information we had previously shared with them and to find out what subsequent research they had done following this.

The students were tasked with producing a short presentation which introduced the individuals they had spoken with, the community, and the key points of learning they had taken from the discussions. The aim was to bring their findings together to form a service user care plan for use by paramedics to enhance care in the community.

The presentations were broken up into two 2 hour sessions.  There were 9 groups of students presenting in total, 2 of whom presented on OI. Other presentations we heard were from Turning Point, Visual Impairment, Carers Scotland, Papyrus Scotland and Deaf/Blind Scotland.

All students did an amazing job and it was great to see so much enthusiasm.

We have shared the Care Plan they designed  with the BBS Care Pathways writing group and hope we will be able to develop this further.

 

In line with the BBS’ initiative ‘What you need to know about my OI’ BBS staff at Dundee HQ were delighted to  welcome fourteen 4^th year dental students from the Dundee Dental School to their offices to meet with members Ingrid Brodie, Jamie Abbot and Trustee Yvonne Grant.

The students, as part of the Year 4 undergraduate curriculum cover a unit which involves community engagement where they meet with different groups to better understand different social, general and oral health needs of individuals. We were delighted to be able to share specific aspects of OI with the group.

The dental students visited for the afternoon on the 13^th March, and were split into 3 groups where they had the opportunity to interact with staff and members to understand the needs of the OI Community.

Following on from these discussions and as part of their assessment, the students will develop their ideas and present what they have come up with at a session in the Dental school on the 18^th April.  The members and staff who participated will be able to attend and give feedback, which we will report on in due course. BBS are delighted to forge ahead with the mutual exchange and will keep our members up to speed on exciting developments.

 

Coreen attended the first face to face POINT (Paediatric OI National Team) meeting since pre Covid Pandemic on the 9^th February in Birmingham.

There were Allied Healthcare professionals in attendance from GOSH, Sheffield, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester and Cardiff Childrens Hospitals.

The healthcare professionals provided updates during the morning session on each of their centres and  various projects they are working on. Highlights and learning from recent medical conferences anyone had attended were discussed as well as poster presentations which had submitted on various research topics.

Coreen had an opportunity to provide updates on BBS activity covering topics such as Events, Care Pathways, Research and surveys, factsheets and new collaborations.

In the afternoon the various specialities divided up into breakout groups to discuss topics relevant to them.

If you want to find our more information about POINT see here

Student Meeting and Presentation Psychosocial Health in Paramedic Practice

 

BBS Project ‘What you need to know about My OI’ took another step forward, when Support Development Officer, Coreen along with members Richard Toner and David Queen visited a group of 2^nd year Paramedic Students at Glasgow Caledonian University  on the 6^th March. The students are currently working towards a module covering Psychosocial Health in Paramedic practice.

The psychosocial health module offers an opportunity for students to engage with different communities and seek to better understand their challenges and needs in healthcare, and the BBS were delighted to be invited along. We spent 2 hours with the students and were involved in useful discussions in relation to Osteogenesis Imperfecta.

The types of questions/topics covered were:

• How does this [condition/lifestyle/challenge] impact your day to day life?
• What have been your experiences of healthcare? Good? Bad?
• How could this have been improved?
• If you are attended by an emergency ambulance, in an unscheduled care experience, what are the key things you would want them to know/understand?
• If we were to create a small document for you carry or have in the house for paramedics to use, what would it contain?

BBS want to thank members who provided information via our online Survey which we published prior to attending the visit asking the OI community to share their Paramedic Experiences. This provided us with useful additional information which we were able to discuss with the students.

Coreen, Richard and David have been invited to return on the 18^th April where the students will deliver a short presentation on the key points of learning they have taken from the discussions. The staff at  Caledonian University will bring all this valuable information together to form a ‘service user care plan’ for use by paramedics to enhance care for the OI community.

 

 

School of Dentistry, Dundee University Visit.

 

Brittle Bone Society staff and members were invited to the School of Dentistry at the University of Dundee on Wednesday 26^th Feb. Joining them were a group of members of the BBS to take a tour of the teaching facility.

We were warmly welcomed and greeted by the organiser of our visit, Niall McGoldrick, Clinical Lecturer and Honorary Consultant and Dr Heather Cassie at the facility along with other key staff for a whistle stop tour.

We began with a health and safety briefing and some housekeeping. We split into two groups and first visited their research floor. We were shown various posters of current research programmes on oral health and had the opportunity to speak to a group of researchers about their work. We also got the opportunity to discuss our own work in Research at the BBS.

Then we took a tour of the forensics lab, this was fascinating. The staff showed the group state of art equipment used for a variety of services and what the technology can help achieve.

We visited the restorative clinic where we saw members of the dental hospital team hard at work, with rows of cubicles where patients are treated, sometimes to undergo very specialised root canal work, having been referred to the hospital by own primary care dental practitioner.

Our final visit was to the Optec Department, where students get the opportunity to trial their skills on phantom heads. This provides an efficient way to teach pre-clinical students dental procedures safely while increasing their dexterity skills.

Finally we stopped for a lovely lunch and informal chat. We were introduced to Professor Jan Clarkson , Professor of Clinical Effectiveness, Associate Dean for Research and Co-Director of the Dental Health Services Research Unit at the School of Dentistry, University of Dundee. Jan is also Director of Effective Dental Practice Programme within NHS Education for Scotland (NES) and is a founding member of the Cochrane Oral Health Group. Her remit is to conduct high quality research and promote the implementation of research evidence in dental primary care. Her research has included several clinical trials involving over 300 dentists and 10,000 patients. Jan is currently Director of the Scottish Clinical Effectiveness Programme who are responsible for the production of national dental guidance in Scotland.

We then rounded up the day with a chat about living with OI, the challenges that our members encountered with their oral health – and discussed ways of sharing useful information. We were informed that the Department are tasked with producing guidelines on care and in particular relation to Bisphosphonates – which of course is of special interest to the OI community.

We are grateful for the staff taking such a keen interest in OI and our work, and it is hoped that we can plan a more in-depth date with them to have members discuss what types of research might benefit the OI community going forward.

 

Open Access Government Article

 

CEO of Brittle Bone Society Patricia Osborne, revisits aspects of the condition and shares what is known around current medical research and treatments. You can read the full article here.

 

The Brittle Bone Society were delighted to receive a request to provide an article about Osteogenesis Imperfecta for the September edition of Open Access Government online publication.

Chief Executive, Patricia Osborne talks about the condition, research and the importance of multi disciplinary services.

Click here to read the Full Article

“Turning the talk into action: We must have robust, fit for purpose and funded solutions now” Chief Executive, Patricia Osborne contributed to an article for Rare Revolution Magazine about provision of services and support for rare conditions.

You can read the full article by clicking here.>>