Later this month, a group of five RCPath members, and their teams, will deliver a range of interactive pathology activities for a special ‘Medicine Late’ event at London’s Science Museum to mark the opening of the new Medicine Galleries. 

Taking place on 29 January, the popular event is a chance for adults to experience the museum in the evening. Held monthly, ‘Lates’ offer lively activities delivered by scientists, medics and researchers, music, drinks and talks, alongside the usual exhibits. RCPath members involved in the event have developed their activities as part of public engagement training offered by the College for members. The training has been developed as a bespoke course with the Science Museum, who also deliver the sessions, which are run annually. Attendees on the advanced course go along to a Science Museum ‘Late’ event and review activities then all convene the next day to discuss and then to develop their own activity ideas for a future ‘Late’ event. 

Five of the RCPath members who attended the advanced training in September 2019 will deliver activities at the upcoming Late, and will represent a range of pathology specialties and topic areas:

• ‘Are you getting enough iron?’ explores iron deficiency and how it is diagnosed, prevented and treated. Developed by consultant haematologist, Dr Shubha Allard, the activities include interactive quizzes and colourful displays that will get participants thinking about one of the most common and widespread nutritional disorder in the world. They’ll also have the chance to speak with haematologists and to think about how iron-rich their own diets are. Dr Allard, who is also the RCPath Clinical Director for Publishing and Engagement, has got lots of her team at NHSBT involved, and the British Nutrition Foundation and the British Dietetic Association have provided advice and information leaflets for participants to take home. 

• ‘House of Horrors’ is an activity all about microbes in the home. Developed by consultant microbiologist, Dr Nicola Hardman, the activities will give participants the chance to find out about where commonly encountered micro-organisms might be found in the home, and about some of the infections they can cause. Nicola’s team of volunteers, who are all based at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust hospitals, will also encourage participants to consider what the ‘dream clean is’ and consider if it is a social or a scientific (or both!). 
• ‘Meet your Mismatch’ is a fun partner-based game that aims to raise awareness of Lynch Syndrome, and to increase understanding of the genetic basis of the condition. Developed by Advanced Biomedical Scientist, Jade McAlinn, the game is a simple but fun quiz in which the two players discuss some controversial topics in the form of a multiple choice opinion questionnaire. When they compare what each of them answered they’ll discover how many ‘genetic mismatches’ they’ve got and find out what this all has to do with DNA and cancer! 
• ‘Nasty or Nice?’ is a game developed by Dr Joy Stantiforth, a histopathology specialty trainee (ST5) based at Peterborough City Hospital. Participants will be given the chance to reveal their undiscovered pathology skills by trying to guess if images taken on a digital microscope show normal or abnormal cells. They will also find out how pathologists make a diagnosis through an object handling activity that will take them from ‘sample to slide’, and be invited to take part in a poll about AI in pathology and healthcare. 
• ‘Protect Yourself!’ is a set of activities that will introduce visitors to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and highlight the different ways it is in hospitals to protect staff from a wide range of diseases, from the common cold to Ebola. Developed by Dr Giuseppe Pichierri, a consultant microbiologist from Kingston Hospital, this lively workshop will challenge participants to decide what PPE they should choose for a range of infection scenarios; they will also be able to personalise a PPE outfit to wear home.

The pathologists will deliver their activities in various galleries of the museum alongside activity providers from a range of other organisations.

The College is also bringing a group of members to run our popular ‘Incredible You’ pathology colouring-in activities in the ‘Picnic Area’ café space.  

The event runs from 18:45 – 22:00 and the full programme is on the Science Museum website. You can follow all of the action on Twitter on the night by following @RCPath and #smlates.