1. Student Ambassador
I became a student ambassador during my second year at university. This experience has allowed me to
develop relationships with other physiotherapy students outside of my group in the cohort above and
below. My communication skills have developed threefold through advertising Coventry University to
forthcoming physiotherapy students and their parents, answering all of their questions looking
professional whilst representing the university. Being able to talk to both parents and their children about
the university shows good communication skills and adaptability which can be applied to health care
settings like working with paeds, as ever parent wants what is best for their children. Being an ambassador
requires you to be responsible and reliable with good time management and organisational skills as in
essence the tutors always remind us that the open days are student run, showing that we are all team
players developing good relationships with other ambassadors and members of staff. Creating a
memorable first impression as an individual and for the university is a vital skill I have gained which can be
applied to any workplace environment.
An important aspect of being a student ambassador is being able to build up a rapport with complete
strangers in no time at all. As I have demonstrated during my time at Stretton and Chandlers, being able to
make acquaintances easily was an important aspect of being a student ambassador, this is something I
have tried to incorporate into my work on placements and engrain into myself for my working career.
Everything that a student ambassador has to do can be interchangeable with the health care setting for
examples taking classes such as pulmonary rehab or total knee, having the confidence to portray your
knowledge and answer questions to and from a group.
Student Rep
I also became a group rep and course rep in my second of university.
Being a group rep meant that I was point of contact for my group, I would receive messages from our
tutors whom I would then pass on to the group, this systemis more efficient and time-saving than the
tutors attempting to contact everyone individually.
As a course rep one of my requirements was to regularly attend student forums with other course reps
from other cohorts including tutors from physiotherapy. These meetings were designed to bridge the link
between tutor and student so Coventry University would further improve in the physiotherapy
department. In the second half of 3rd year I became a senior course rep, there are 2 for each student
forum, and one is the chair person, the other the minute taker. I was the minute taker for the majority of
the student forums.
Being both course and senior course rep shows that I am willing to come forward and make a change for
the better, not afraid to take a leadership role and raising opinions of my own or have been passed on to
me. Both staff and students at these meetings want to continuously improve the physiotherapy
undergraduate degree for the better and through these meetings we raise, negotiate and make plans to
improve the service both the staff and university provide for the students, and of course feeding back to
the students what we have done as well.