A proud moment for our Ambitious College interns

Last Friday, Ambitious College held a graduation ceremony for eight Autistic interns who have spent the academic year working across a range of departments at Whittington Health, both in the hospital and in our community sites.

 

Throughout the year, the interns completed placements in various departments including our Education Centre, Pharmacy, Stores, Clinic 4D, Medical Physics, CAMHS, Research, Dental, Coyle ward, Cloudesley ward, Endoscopy, Neurology and the hospital’s N19 restaurant.

 

During their time with us, they provided valuable support by performing clinical tasks such as patient observations and blood glucose monitoring, administrative duties including patient call reminders, and facilities work like delivering packages throughout the hospital. They left a lasting impression on all the teams they worked with.

 

Hosting interns gives our teams the opportunity to help a young person develop workplace skills and confidence, while also gaining valuable support in their department.

 

One such example is Tilly, who was based in our hospital's Clinic 4D and was responsible for calling patients to confirm appointments. The experience helped Tilly build her confidence and communication skills, while also reducing the clinic’s DNA (Did Not Attend appointment) rate – a win for everyone.

 

At the graduation ceremony, Tilly spoke tearfully about how her placements helped her ‘find her identity’, saying: ‘My journey at Whittington has come to an end, but I feel another journey is just beginning.’

 

Berke, who interned in our N19 restaurant, Stores, and with the Research team, shared how the experience helped him come out of his shell. ‘Before this, I was a very quiet and shy person,’ he said. ‘But being here changed that.’

 

Another graduate, Eddy, said: ‘If I could go back in time and tell my past self that one day I’d be standing here speaking confidently at a graduation ceremony, I would’ve laughed!’ After a placement in Endoscopy, we’re so pleased to hear Eddy has joined the Whit family in the Endoscopy department as a Health Care Assistant.

 

Jonathan Gardner, Chief Strategy, Digital and Improvement Officer, attended the graduation and shared that 60% of graduates from Ambitious College go on to find roles in the workforce, and 40% go on to further education. He added that he hoped the interns had taken away ‘some great memories of working at Whittington, friendships, and life skills’.