The Salford Biomedicine Society was established in 2017 by former Salford Biomedicine Students. The Society was now in its 5th year, and dare I say it, its most successful year yet. My name is Sara Alnasir Kassam, and I was the Secretary of the Society for the year 2022-2023. Let’s journey together through this past year and celebrate the achievements we will remember for many years.
The newly elected committee started their term early in June 2022, with Biomedical Science Day. Working closely with Tahmina Hussain, the Committee volunteered on this day, raising awareness of the Biomedical Scientist profession being #attheheartofhealthcare 24 hours, seven days a week. A few weeks later, the Society was introduced to prospective students via our Biomedicine Summer School, where a Q&A session was held to further inform our future Salford students of the support and fun we offer.
We swiftly moved on to Freshers’ Week to get as many members as possible from the Biomedicine cohort and the other faculties at the University of Salford. We had a massive presence at the Freshers Fair and during the induction activities for our newly joined Biomedicine students. Our vast presence was further intensified via our Freshers’ promo video, informing everyone about the perks of joining the society featuring our new Committee. We were also featured in the IBMS Student e-Newsletter.
The Super Bees, the Main Bees and the Support Bees worked collectively to deliver our Sports, BioArt, and Book Club sessions and the newly founded Employability Support Sessions. The Employability Support Initiative included a placement preparation series and the “Back 2 Basics: Student Edition” series. Both series proved popular and were delivered online on MS Teams. Our events managers also worked hard to set up social events, including a Bowling Social and a winter-themed Ice Skating Social. Something new for this year was the Sports Collaboration with the other sport-themed societies at the University. We also had a Kidscan Support Bee who focused on collaborations between the Society and Kidscan.
We supported the IBMS Manchester branch’s “Equity, Diversity and Inclusion” event in January 2023. Our committee represented the society and built connections with key professionals. January 2023 was the month we received a shoutout from the SU via their Society Spotlight initiative.
Considering our aim of making our members more employable, the society worked hard to deliver the student-led day of the Human and Natural Sciences (HANS) Careers Fest 2023. We provided live Employability Support Sessions on interview prep and CV writing and, for the first time, included interview simulations. We also organised upskilling sessions with the academics.
The two most significant events of the year – The Bioart Competition and Salford Passionflash – were indeed the highlights for the society as a whole. A lot of preparation went into making these events unique. Our participants, winners and audiences loved the little personalised touches, making the events ones that have never been experienced at Salford before.
We ended the year with 150+ members (making the society the biggest at the University) and two SU awards nominations (Most Improved Society and Academic Society of the Year). These milestones genuinely reflect the work the committee put in throughout the year. Being involved in the society has been a matter of pride. Here’s wishing the new Committee the best of luck for the year ahead. I can't wait to see what is in store for the Salford Biomedicine Society.
Go Team Biomed!
