Recent alumni Owen and Molly

Two of our new alumni reflect on graduating early and joining the NHS during a pandemic

We recently caught up with alumni Owen Rhys Foster and Molly Dineen, who opted to graduate from the College of Medicine and Health early to join the fight against COVID-19, to find out what graduating early and joining the NHS during a pandemic has been like.

Owen Rhys Foster - Senior Diagnostic Radiographer

"When the first lockdown struck, I was moving back home as per the University’s advice. Little did I know how the rest of the year would pan out. Things were very much ‘up in the air’ as to what was going to happen with exams and how the rest of the final year would play out. For lack of better words, I was terrified watching news updates on what was happening internationally and to our local areas. However, as I watched these updates, I had a sense of wanting to join and do my part as soon as possible, apply my years of study on the frontline and assist my fellow colleagues in battling this horrific pandemic. I felt determined.

"Exeter University was exceptional at keeping us up to date on changes and what the options were going to be about graduating. The medical imaging programme leads offered us an early graduation for 2020 for the COVID response action, as long as we met certain criteria. The University and course leads also offered tailored advice to students to make sure that we all achieved our best. I was lucky enough to graduate early and was determined to join the frontline as soon as I could to be an extra pair of hands on an already strained healthcare system.

"I felt ready when I started my first job in a south London hospital. Exeter’s medical imaging modules, student placements and extra-curricular opportunities gave me the running start that allowed me to have the resilience required for starting not only a new first job, but also jumping into a global pandemic environment of which diagnostic imaging was key in diagnosis and monitoring.

"I knew that what I was expecting was never going to be the same as what reality was going to be like; my placements over my years of study had provided me knowledge on the work life of a ‘regular’ hospital environment. The hardest thing that I have faced was being one of the last people that some patients saw, holding their hand as they passed. Having to cover mobile chest Xray imaging, I would go to Resus bays, ITU bays, High dependency ward bays and provide on the spot imaging as the patients were drastically deteriorating. Wearing my full PPE, it was even harder – I didn’t look or feel like a person, yet these people’s last vision was of myself and the team looking after them in these full PPE outfits. The words that will forever stay in my head are from one patient I saw in a high dependency unit. They were clearly deteriorating and they knew/could feel it. After I had finished, I thanked them for their cooperation and had a little joke to crack a smile. It did. This placed a smile on my face. The patient said “I can see you’re smiling behind all that stuff. Your eyes are telling me you are. Thank you.” The patient passed away before I made it back to my department.

"The radiographer’s motto is ex umbris erudition, it stands for ‘from darkness cometh light’. This covid pandemic is the darkest of days for a lot of us, but from it, there will be light. The number of technological advances in imaging services alone is incredible. The speed at which research and collaboration to produce vaccines to tackle this pandemic has occurred has been awe inspiring. But most importantly, the coming together of communities, treating strangers as fellow humans and helping one another out has truly been the greatest of all things I have seen.

I graduated and started as a Diagnostic Radiographer. I have worked myself up to being a Senior Diagnostic Radiographer and have taken on additional roles such as the QA radiographer and paediatric specialist radiographer within the department. I am also doing a lot of teaching in hospital, and at University via courses or societies. My future ambitions are to pursue a career in neuroimaging as a neuroradiographer, eventually undertaking research in vascular imaging of the brain.

I want these last few words to be of thanks to everyone at the University whose support has helped me get to where I am today. I also want to thank my fellow colleagues and future colleagues that will be graduating soon. Lastly, I would like to thank the community: you have been the support for the frontline when we couldn’t see past the darkest days. Thank you everyone."

Dr Molly Dineen 

"This time last year I started work as a junior doctor, three months earlier than expected.  I was thrown into the deep end but I was desperate to do my bit to help and felt ready to do so. My first year of work has been challenging and unpredictable; certainly not how I once expected my first few months on the wards to be. The pandemic has totally changed the way in which we work and the biggest challenge of all has been adapting the skills that I have learnt. From expressing empathy from behind a mask to social distancing and breaking bad news over the phone, each day has brought a new challenge. There has been a huge amount of uncertainty but learning to accept ambiguity has been something valuable that I will take forward. I have learnt so much in such a short space of time and I hope that this will prepare me well for my career.

"It has been a unique time to join the NHS; there has been a real team spirit and there has been great acceptance of and support for any concerns and uncertainties. I am grateful that the medical course in Exeter prepared me so well for life on the wards. I think that most pertinently I was taught to be human, to be kind, and to look after myself and others, and these things have proven to be invaluable. I hope to finish my foundation training over the next year and then head into a career in general practice. I hope that I will use many of the skills that I have learnt this year throughout my career and I hope that there are others that I will never need to use again!"

Read more about Molly's experience becoming a junior doctor here.

Date: 12 May 2021