Christopher Gaffney, Lancaster University, Lancashire, UK

https://doi.org/10.36866/pn.110.40

There are not many opportunities in your career to be involved in the development of new undergraduate courses from inception. The reason I joined Lancaster was that it offers a Sports and Exercise Science degree delivered from a Medical School and there is no better environment to combine my interests that span these areas in research and teaching.

My role is all encompassing. From joining the team at Lancaster, I have been involved in the admissions process for new students; reviewing personal statements and participating in decisions to offer places. It’s difficult to understand the complexity of applicant visit days until you realise the work involved creating posters and marketing for the course; training student ambassadors; and preparing lectures and lab demonstrations to give to prospective students and accompanying guests.

One of the most exciting aspects in the early stages of my role is my involvement in the design of our new Human Performance Lab (HPL). Less than a month ago I spent almost all week holding a pipette and now I’m reviewing blueprints; how my job has changed! Alongside the design of the HPL we manage equipment purchasing; making a business case for prospective equipment based upon the return for both research and teaching.

One of the most challenging tasks ahead is the development of a new curriculum. The unique selling point for Sports and Exercise Science at Lancaster is the Medical School, and the strive to ensure there is a clinical focus throughout our degree. This includes capitalising on Lancaster’s infrastructure for training medics such as our state-of-the-art Clinical Anatomy Learning Centre (CALC).

The first-year content of the Sports and Exercise Science degree was finalised before my arrival but both the second and third years are open to modification, which presents some exciting opportunities for option modules. Whilst development of the curricula from scratch is a daunting endeavour, it’s nonetheless a privilege to take aspects of my own degrees that I enjoyed, and others that I believe would be appreciated by students, and incorporate them into our course. My colleagues and I would love to be a student starting Sports and Exercise Science at Lancaster in October 2018, and I believe that’s what makes our jobs fulfilling, and will make the course a success.