The SIHED (Strategic Interventions in Health Education Disciplines) programme is expanding and the I See The Difference campaign will now feature all 14 allied health professions (AHPs), including diagnostic radiography.
There will still be a major focus on therapeutic radiography as one of four key target professions, but the programme now aims to offer people the chance to explore broader employment options by providing information about diagnostic radiography career paths.
“We want to increase the visibility of our campaign among other AHPs and health professions, so we will be updating the I See The Difference website, creating an AHP-wide flyer for outreach events, and recruiting an AHP-wide outreach officer,” the SIHED team said.
“We are working closely with colleagues at Health Education England (HEE) to ensure that the many campaigns aimed at boosting recruitment for health professionals are synchronised and complement each other.”
Michelle Tyler, the Society's professional outreach officer - therapeutic radiography, emphasised the the need for education providers and clinical sites to work together. "There has been great work by the therapeutic radiography community to support this campaign," Michelle said.
"It’s important that training providers and trust services work closely to support recruitment in their areas Together they can grow interest in therapeutic radiography and increase the number of people applying to courses”
'I See the Difference' was originally designed to raise awareness of the role of therapeutic radiographers and three other professions (orthoptics, podiatry, and prosthetics/orthotics) amongst both young and mature students. The focus of the campaign is about the connections allied health professionals make with patients and carers and the job satisfaction those contacts bring.
The initial SIHED challenge fund was launched in 2018 to encourage the development of new approaches to the delivery of, or recruitment to, healthcare courses.