Consultant Histopathologist, Professor Mark Wilkinson ran our popular Your Body Your Consent workshop with groups of school students in Nottingham, supported by 7 pathologists.  Mark started the session with an interactive quiz on all things pathology, which led onto a short lecture on the history of the Human Tissue Act, explaining what this meant for pathologists across the country. Professor Wilkinson questioned the students on what they felt about the issues raised; “do you think this is right?”, “why should we gain consent for this?"...

Although it was the end of term for many of the students there, they were extremely engaged in the content. After the lecture and quiz, the workshop moved on to discussion groups, each facilitated by a pathologist. Discussing for over 45 minutes, the students had a lot to say – even feeding back that they would like more time to discuss the topics, and staying after the workshop to discuss further. We’re going to take this into consideration for our next session.

One of the students said in their feedback “it opened up the different opportunities in pathology careers wise”. As well as giving students the chance to discuss the ethical dilemmas that pathologists have to face, the session also introduces them to the idea of a career in pathology, which many had not ever considered or heard of before.

Overall, the event was a success and the College will be running another session in Norwich in September.

Watch this space for a new video guide on how to run your own Your Body Your Consent event.  You can get started by downloading our human tissue resource activity pack. Get in touch if you need any advice or support.