Being a NICE Scholar will broaden your knowledge of health and social care

9 Oct 2018 11:22 AM

Blog posted by: Katie Currie, public health principal, Bristol City Council, 04 October 2018.

Katie Currie, public health principal, outlines how the NICE Scholar programme shaped her career development

Katie Currie, public health principal, Bristol City Council

At the time I applied for the NICE Scholar programme I was working in Bristol on how to reduce social isolation and loneliness for the older people. The voluntary community and social enterprise organisations where providing an increasing amount of support for older people in this area, but I understood little about where they looked for good practice.

Spending some time exploring this topic felt like a great NICE Scholar project. I found that people in the sector were open to exploring evidence based practice, but needed support to access and implement the evidence as it emerged.

During my scholarship I worked with the NICE Field Team and local services to run a training session for voluntary community and social enterprise organisations. The training highlighted how such organisations could use NICE products, and how to link to local services for gathering and sharing evidence.

The NICE Scholar programme also includes structured workshops, and offered opportunities to learn more about the organisation. In this regard I attended a NICE Board Meeting, the NICE Conference and a Public Health Advisory Group meeting; I also had monthly meeting with my NICE mentor.

The opportunities allowed me to lift my head above the immediate challenges of my role, and locality, and think about the system, its challenges, and where the opportunities to influence change are.

Being a NICE Scholar increased my knowledge of NICE and fulfilled my expectations regarding how I approach the implementation of evidence based practice and how I support others to do the same. It also gave me time to think of my own career progression in the health and social care sector. 

Since leaving the Scholars Programme I have joined the NICE Adoption and Implementation Panel, and I am moving into an exciting leadership role in Children’s Community Health.

Find out more about being a NICE Fellow here.

Find out more about being a NICE Scholar here