Olivia celebrates at University of Central Lancashire graduation ceremony
A Crowland student is following her dream to become a physician associate after vowing to not let dyslexia hold her back.
Olivia Green graduated from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) in Preston last week with a first-class honours degree in biomedical science. The 22-year-old dreamt of becoming a dentist throughout high school but because she didn’t get the A Level grades she needed due to a late dyslexia diagnosis, she instead opted to study biomedical science and says it’s the best decision she ever made.
Former Spalding High School and Sixth Form pupil Olivia said: “After I didn’t get the results I wanted, I spent a year working in a dental practice and actually realised dentistry wasn’t the career for me. Biomedical science is a diverse course and I learned a lot from hands-on experience in the university’s laboratories. It was during my time at UCLan I was diagnosed with dyslexia and finally got the support I needed, which made a massive difference.”
"Biomedical science is a diverse course and I learned a lot from hands-on experience in the university’s laboratories. It was during my time at UCLan I was diagnosed with dyslexia and finally got the support I needed, which made a massive difference."
During her course Olivia, who also looked after a young girl with quadriplegic cerebral palsy for four years until she went to university, was chosen to spend a week at the Kansas Medical Centre in the United States to shadow doctors and even watched brain surgery.
“I was literally stood next to the surgeon, it was an amazing experience,” she said. “My time in Kansas confirmed my ambition to work in a patient contact setting and the next step for me is to train as a physician associate.”
In September Olivia will begin her two-year physician associate training at Hull York Medical School and once qualified, her role will be to support doctors in the diagnosis and management of patients.
She added: “The last few years have taken me on a huge journey and to know I’m close to achieving my dream is wonderful. I do believe everything happens for a reason and although I was really disappointed when I didn’t get onto a dentistry course, everything has worked out for the best. Receiving additional academic support from UCLan gave me the extra boost I needed to get where I am today.”
