Young people heard about life outside the classroom in a talk given by an old girl.

Laura Johnstone was invited by Bolton School to deliver a World of Work session to Year 10 girls.

During the virtual session she spoke about her career in working in medical communications.

Laura, a Scientific Director for the Healthcare Consultancy Group, told the pupils how she chose what to study through a mix of picking things she was good at and liked and what universities seemed to be looking for.

She studied biomedical sciences at Newcastle University. During her time there, particularly after a summer scholarship allowed her to spend a protracted spell in a microbiology lab, she decided that this was what she really enjoyed doing. It encouraged her to go on to study for a four year PhD in medicine at Lancaster University, funded by the NHS. Spending more time in the lab, she told how she focused her studies on bacteria and its links to rheumatoid arthritis.

Upon completion of her studies and in need of a job, Laura explained how she came across medical communications.

She described the field as being a group of agencies that advise and support the pharmaceutical industry in their communications to healthcare professionals like doctors, nurses and pharmacists – educating them in the benefits and risks of medicines and products.

Laura concluded by advising the GCSE students that you will end up doing a job for a long time so, if you can, do something that you enjoy doing.