A work placement that was carried out remotely in the Caribbean, a masters midwifery placement in Fife and a nursing placement that helped cement a student’s passion for the area of tissue viability are among this year’s winners and runners-up of Edinburgh Napier’s student work experience competition.
At a ceremony at Craiglockhart campus last week, Principal Prof Andrea Nolan announced the winner of the competition as Dheeraj Chawla, a fourth year Business Studies with Finance student from the University’s Business School.
Dheeraj’s entry reflected on his 12-month placement as a procurement officer for the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service.
Working remotely from his home in the Caribbean island of Curacao as a result of the pandemic, which included getting up at 5am and often working to 10pm to fit in with UK working hours, Dheeraj excelled in every facet of his placement.
Two runners-up were also announced.
Erin O’Driscoll, an adult nursing student who impressed judges with her reflections of her time on placement at Slateford Road Medical Centre and who used her placement to cement her passion for tissue viability, and Sharmaine Watters, a midwifery student who wrote passionately about her placement in Fife during the pandemic.
Launched this year, the student work experience competition saw over 30 students submit written case studies of their time on placement to the competition.
Touching on various subjects including their role, skills learnt, challenges overcome and reflections, the standard of writing was incredibly high, with the placement team and judging panel whittling down the shortlist to eight before a winner was chosen.
The entries were judged on a number of aspects including the structure and quality of writing, how well the case study reflects their personal experience and development on placement and how well the experience relates to their academic studies and future plans.
Deborah Callister, Edinburgh Napier’s Placement Manager within its Student Futures team, said: “We have really enjoyed reading entries to this year’s competition and I would like to thank all those who took the time to submit case studies on their placement to us.
“The judges had a really difficult task selecting our winners and runners-up as the quality of entries was so high. Dheeraj, Erin and Sharmaine were chosen as their submissions really captured what they gained from the work placement and how their experience linked with their University course and future career plans.
“Placements can be daunting first steps into the working world – especially during a pandemic – and we’re so proud to hear of the success our students have had while undertaking their work. A massive congratulations to them all.”