When Year 10 student Scarlett applied to complete her Industry Immersion placement at a radiology clinic, she didn’t expect her project results to end up in the hands of patients across nine clinics in Sydney.
The Industry Immersion program gives Kambala students a genuine taste of professional life: candidates prepare their resume, apply formally, and sit an interview before being placed with an industry partner. During the placement, students are then required to undertake a piece of research connected to their placement.
Working alongside Kambala Old Girl Sophia Bako ’86, Scarlett began researching the patient experience around breast density. From this she discovered a common problem, when women are told they have dense breast tissue, many turn to the internet for answers and are met with an overwhelming, often confusing spread of information.
This led to Scarlett designing a one pager patient resource, with essential facts about breast density in clear, accessible information. Australian Breast Density Consumer Advisory Council have recently revised policy, recommending women be informed of their breast density, meaning Scarlett’s resource is now a routine part of thousands of patients’ consultations as well as being used across all 9 clinics of Vision X-ray Group.
Sophia shares “The information sheet she produced about breast density was outstanding and showed depth of understanding of the implications of dense breast tissue. Her research and final product amazed me, especially given that she is still at school and without prior medical training. It was very inspiring for her to take up research on this area, as breast density is a very topical issue in breast imaging (including for those attending BreastScreen).
Following discussions and feedback with Scarlett, we decided to use her project up as an information flyer, which we believe will be useful for both patient and GP education. We are handing it out to patients having mammography at Vision Xray’s 9 sites across NSW, as well as those attending The Australian Breast Centre. The flyer is also being placed on our reception desks across all our imaging sites. In the near future we plan to use it as part a GP education initiative centred around breast assessment.“
It’s a striking example of what our Industry Immersion program is designed to do, moving students beyond the classroom and into workplaces where their thinking, research and initiative can make a genuine difference.
