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Apprentice Bex Pauffley achieves Registered Science Technician
Congratulations to Bex Pauffley who graduated from the Level 3 Mortuary Technician apprenticeship APT route
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You must be very proud to become an APT to achieve the RSciTech award through the fully aligned to RSciTech mortuary technician apprenticeship. Did you find applying straightforward and tell us a little more about being an APT apprentice.
I can't quite believe I've made it to be honest, balancing the Level 3, the Apprenticeship and the registration has been a lot!
Applying for Professional Registration with the Science Council was made so simple for us as Apprentices as I understand our course had been designed so that we had already demonstrated the relevant competencies and attributes. Those of us on the Apprenticeship pathway have had a challenging road, as we have been the first to navigate the course, so it's had its ups and downs.
However the College and SIAS have been very keen to seek our feedback, so hopefully the next cohort of Apprentices can benefit from us being the guinea pigs! I'm really proud to be one of the first APT's that has undertaken this pathway!
Can you give your main reason for wishing to achieve the RSciTech registration?
I think registration within our profession is a huge step for all APT's.
I feel that it has given the profession a huge step up in many ways - APT's having a sense of belonging; a sense of validation; to be taken more seriously; be held to account via the standards, and hopefully will also lead to attracting new people to the profession. For me, the registration was important to give me a sense of belonging to something bigger, and feeling like I've had a quality stamp on my position as a qualified APT. Of course, we are now required to have achieved registration with the Science Council in order to move forward to the Level 4 Diploma, but I'm confident that for the reasons above, I still would have done it regardless.
The AAPT provided guidance documents and other useful references within the AAPT website. Did you find these useful as you completed the application?
To be honest the application process was so simple and slick for the Apprenticeship pathway, I didn't need to consult these guidance documents but I've heard very positive feedback about these from others.
Once the award is achieved it must then be maintained through CPD and adherence to the standards. Is this daunting or a new professional challenge to overcome?
The Apprenticeship pathway required us to keep a detailed record of the hours during which we were learning new things, referred to as the "Off the Job Hours Log".
The idea of this was that we would spend 20% of our hours at work gaining new skills, knowledge or experience. Over the course of the Apprenticeship, we were expected to document over 700 hours of this type of learning. Although this was tough to get started and in the flow of it, I feel like it has prepared me adequately for identifying new opportunities for learning, and meant that I am well practiced in reflective writing. All of these things mean that I feel confident that I will be able to achieve the CPD requirement, and will be embarking on it straight away.
What is the next step in your career, Bex?
The Level 4 RSPH Diploma in HCS (APT) begins in February 2025 and I am enrolled on the course. I feel really ready for this, and am excited by the content of the course. We will also have a new Trainee soon, and I'm looking forward to the challenge of being a Mentor, and helping and guiding her through her Level 3.