How a Modern Apprenticeship gave Ethan a stepping stone to a career in healthcare

Modern Apprenticeship in Healthcare Support

Ethan is a theatre support worker in the day surgery theatres in a busy hospital. Ethan started his career in healthcare by doing a Modern Apprenticeship. He's now training to become an assistant theatre practitioner.

Ethan's story

Ethan decided to apply for the Modern Apprenticeship after being on furlough for 9 months. After all the difficulties people experienced during the pandemic, he thought that he could lend a hand and do his part. Ethan says, "It gave me a stepping stone into a career in healthcare, and I've now been able to go into advanced training as an assistant theatre practitioner."

A typical day in a hospital theatre

For Ethan, a typical day would normally start at 8:00 am in the morning, when he heads to the theatre and start doing the daily checks. At about 8:15 am, the whole team have a daily briefing attended by the surgeons, anaesthetists, and nursing staff.

Ethan says, "We discuss all the patients on the surgery list for the day. From there, I would then go to meet the patients, check their details and then bring them to the anaesthetic room."

In the anaesthetic room, Ethan helps the operating department practitioner to set up vital monitoring before the patient has a general anaesthetic or local anaesthetic.

In the theatre, he helps the scrub practitioner with any additional equipment that they need and set up for surgery.

The best bits

We asked Ethan what he likes most about his job. Ethan told us. "What I enjoy most about my job is being able to help people and getting to see a world that most people won't get to see outside the hospital walls."

"One part of my job that I found challenging at the start was adapting to the theatre environment. Obviously, a lot of stuff will be sterile equipment, and you just can't touch it. So, I think it was challenging to adapt to the environment that I was in."

Top skills for a theatre support worker

Ethan told us that the most important skills for a theatre support worker are communication, time management, organisation and attention to detail.

Why a Modern Apprenticeship could be for you

Ethan advises others who are thinking about applying to do a Modern Apprenticeship with the NHS to go for it. He says, "If you're a person who likes to help people and you work well with a team, it's a good opportunity for you to develop a career in healthcare."