Hi, I'm laura and I'm an exercise nutrition sciences student
and here with me is Paul one of our lecturers and we are here today to
answer your questions. Alright Paul so I've got the first
question here, what are some of the most interesting jobs your former students
are doing? Well we've got students obviously
in a whole range of different degrees in health science,
exercise science, nutrition, education, we've got people who are working with
elite sporting teams for example Brisbane Broncos, Queensland Netball,
we've got people in in health services in a whole range of
different areas, we've got people working with students
at schools, so there's people in exercise areas,
there's people that are doing further research as well so I guess the options
seem like we've got a bit of an avenue as to where people are going but
where they end up can be quite varied and that's the
beauty of these degrees. What does a day in the life of an exercise, sport and
nutrition student look like? With my studies it's pretty flexible so
I'm doing part-time studies with my degree
and I really enjoy the classes because they vary
throughout the day because we have classes in the physiology labs where
we're doing performance testing, tutorials where I do a lot of my
nutrition work, in the chemistry labs where we do a lot of
things to do with metabolism and DNA and things like that and we also do some
work out in the sporting fields and things like that as well so
there's a great variety throughout the day so you never get bored
so that's pretty much on a daily basis so I really enjoy that.
What opportunities do your students have to get hands-on experience in the field?
Our courses have lots of hands-on experience, lots of professional
experience, practical work, as we know that's a big part of the
learning that it's not just a matter of knowing it's a matter of doing as well
and so it's a really good opportunity for them
to see how things look in the real world and also how they're
applied in various different settings rather than just going into one
particular setting we try to provide variety
so that they're well equipped to deal with so many different aspects.
What type of places do people go for those placements?
So certainly in my area they are schools obviously, in the other
degrees there's opportunity within hospitals,
different health services, different exercise areas, different sporting
organisations so it's a whole variety of different
practical experiences that people can get. So Laura, what is something that has
surprised you about studying at UQ? I think that being someone who tries to
go for as many opportunities as possible coming to UQ and seeing the amount of
opportunities and experiences and the large network that UQ has as a uni was
completely overwhelming even for someone like me. Even now, I've got six months
left of my degree and I'm still finding new things to do and
new things to involve myself in so yeah that was a really positive surprise.
How would you prepare students for an unpredictable and changing future?
What we do is we don't shy away from the unpredictability of it but one of the
things that we certainly do within our degrees is we
scaffold things. So we start off nice and gentle, safe
supportive environments they've got the support of tutors, lecturers around we
start off in those smaller environments where they know that they're actually
okay and then we just increase the complexity
as we go along so that it's not going from 0 to 100
there are progressive steps and so giving variety of experiences
so people aren't just strong in one area they get to know what
their field looks like the nuances of their field in different
spaces, different contexts. We find the more that we can do that
the more comfortable they get with unpredictability because I think being
adaptable is one of the most important skills that we can have.
Do you get a lot of really good feedback from past students as to
how you've adapted them through the program? Absolutely and that's one of the
things that we pride ourselves on is we go out to our
placements and we have a look how they're going and a lot of those people
now that we go to the placements are former students of the degree and
they're our best advocates but they're also the
best ones to give us honest feedback as to what we can do to constantly improve
and again we judge our success on what happens out there rather than
necessarily what happens here because that's what we are
preparing them for. What are the most valuable skills you've learned as part
of your degree? I think one of the main things would probably be
advocacy, especially in a health degree such as exercise nutrition
and being able to bring whatever we learn in the classroom out into the
public and with whoever we're dealing with on a daily basis and really
promoting those healthy lifestyles to people.
Also, I think one of the most important things has been
being able to put into practice the research and
all that book learning that we learn in the classroom
and I think all the lecturers have been really good with that in the exercise
nutrition degree where we do look at all the research
because that's obviously important but then really understanding what
people's lives are like on a daily basis because often
what happens in the literature doesn't actually happen in real life and
especially with health, everyone's different,
everyone has different behaviors so really trying to adapt what
we've learned in the classroom into real life situations where you're
dealing with someone's health and their life on a day-to-day
basis. So I think that's probably the most
important thing that I've learned. So Paul, what makes a good student and
are they the same things that employers value? Yeah, good question. I think
generally speaking they are, obviously there are lots of different
elements that make a good student and certainly what employers are looking for
but one of the biggest things that we've noticed
is the personability of people so it's the social, emotional skills that
people have. We are in relational environments where
that's our careers, that we are looking after people we're in a supportive area
it is about wanting the best for other people, getting success for them
so I think an interest in people is huge
we love to see people who are intrinsically motivated who are actually
passionate about what they're studying and what they're doing
and through those skills and then working with people in an investment in
people that's where we really see them shine so
yeah I think they are similar and those skills are
really really important. Definitely. Okay to you, what do you think
employers in your field are looking for and how do you think UQ has equipped you
with these skills? Dealing with people in a health field
and dealing with their lives on a daily basis I think it's
really important that you need to have a lot of empathy and be
able to understand other people's emotions other people's
behaviors and being self-aware of yourself,
probably initiative as well and being able to
set goals and make decisions for yourself
is really important to be able to help other people to be able to make
those decisions for them as well because especially in the health field,
if someone comes to you for advice they really want to know
that you know how to do it yourself before they'll trust you.
It's nice to hear the initiative one, that's one that we often hear from
employers and it's one that we're big on as well
and I think we often expect people to do things and they don't but what we've
often found is it's not through a lack of initiative,
it's a lack of understanding whether they're able to do things, so it's nice
to hear a student say that and again I think
that comes down to the context as well but nice.
So paul, if you could give me one piece of advice that would set me apart
as a job candidate what would it be? I think because we are
in the relationship business I would say identifying and knowing how what you do
will actually help other people so rather than looking internally about
what will give you the successes is actually thinking about
what it is you're doing and how that can have a really positive impact.
Okay Laura this last question, what have you learned about yourself since you
began your studies at UQ? Oh what have I learnt about myself?
I think the big part is that I really can do anything that I set
my mind to. I've always been someone who tries to go
for anything that comes at me anyway but I
think all the experiences that I've had at UQ
and what I've learned and my interactions with lecturers and other
peers and people who I've worked for through this
career, there are really no limits so that really excites me for the
future because I know that I can achieve
anything that I set my mind to, you just have to put in a
little bit of effort and have a little bit of passion and I think you're all
good to go so I think UQ has really helped me with that.