How I Stumbled Upon A New Dream – My Future ODP Career

Kate is is currently in her first year of BSc Operating Department Practice at the University of Hull.

When you are younger, they ask you what you’d like to be when you grow up. There’s often a flurry of answers given to this question; you might hear astronaut, superhero or Mummy/Daddy - wacky ideas of a child are often the best and most funny to hear. 

I, myself, remember giving so many answers throughout my childhood. I wanted to be a singer, a teacher, a cake baker and a writer at different points in my younger years. Depending upon how you view things, and I tend to be quite a positive person, you could say that I did achieve all of these dreams in some way or another; I was a primary school teacher from 2015-2017, I’ve created cakes for birthdays and other special occasions for the public and I still do, and I am currently a writer for the wonderful Future Frontline.

Unfortunately, being a singer was just a little too far out of my reach – although my daughter loves my rendition of ‘Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes’ so I’ll take that as a win, too!

So, now that I’ve achieved some dreams and ‘grown up’, I found it was time for me to get excited about a new dream. In 2017 I started working at my local hospital as a Major Trauma Data Coordinator for the Trauma Audit and Research Network, otherwise known as TARN. Through this role I experienced the entire patient journey first-hand; from pre-hospital, to ED admission, any surgical interventions undertaken right up to the time of discharge or transfer. As my first time working in healthcare, this was an exceptional role in which I was exposed to and could learn about different professions and how everyone would come together, working as one streamlined machine to make sure a patient could get better and receive the best care possible.

Originally, the most logical step – and that being the one I pursued first – was applying for a degree to train as a nurse. I knew I wanted to get off the sidelines from my administrative role and learn how to provide hands-on help and care for people myself. I sent my UCAS application in as soon as possible when the 2020 cycle opened up (I actually sent it in on the very first day - I was so ready for a change!) and then I waited to hear if I had been selected for interview. It was a long, long wait! 

I knew my chosen university well after already achieving two degrees there; I had completed my undergraduate in 2014 and then a PGCE in 2017. However, as I’d never seen it before, I chose to visit on an Open Day in October 2019 to be able to attend a tour of the Allam Medical Building on the Hull campus. On this tour – which was amazing by the way! – I was introduced to a new role. It was one I had heard in passing in my workplace but something I was completely new to, and that was the role of the ODP, better known as the Operating Department Practitioner. I changed my UCAS application that night and have since never looked back, though I sometimes do wonder if I would have received that nursing interview invite after all!

An ODP is a highly skilled and valued member of the surgical team, a specialist in every aspect of perioperative care, supporting patients during the 3 surgical phases; anaesthetic, surgical and recovery. The primary concern for an ODP is always the patient. Whether giving them a reassuring smile as they go into the anaesthetic room, being responsible for all swabs, needles and knives during surgery or maintaining dignity and managing pain in recovery, the safety and wellbeing of the patient is always the top priority.

One of the main attractions to this profession for me is how much traction it is building. At one point, ODPs never really left the theatre, whereas now, their anaesthetic and airway skills are requested in emergency care and intensive care to name but a few. You get to train in numerous surgical specialties and see things that people often just get to wonder about - seeing what happens after people are put to sleep!

I start my training in just over a weeks’ time, after putting my UCAS application in a whole 11 months ago! It feels very surreal and of course, with all of the new Covid measures that are still in place, it is also quite a daunting time to be starting a healthcare course. However, the bravery, resilience and fight that frontline healthcare professionals have shown this year has been awe-inspiring and is something that I am excited to contribute to during my training and beyond.