Samantha Engbarth - P.A. to Dr. Penelope Brock,
(consultant for Pediatric and Adolescent Oncology),
Office Manager & Clinical Trials Administrator, Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Samantha works at Great Ormond Street Hospital as P.A. to Dr. Brock - consultant for pediatric and adolescent oncology (cancer in children and young people) - and her job, she feels, is more of a vocation rather than a career.

After having achieved diplomas in massage and reflexology, an honours degree in psychology and then still furthering her education to obtain an M.Sc. in Occupational psychology, it was always Samantha's intention to pursue a career relevant to her qualifications. However, a traveling expedition abroad brought Samantha back to the UK looking for work and it was a temping agency that linked her to Great Ormond Street Hospital.

As one can imagine, the hospital - renowned worldwide for its pioneering efforts with terminally ill children, was an eye-opener for Samantha who, like most of us, had never before been so brutally confronted with the cruel fact that children do contract and sometimes die from cancer. She sees heart-rending cases and one of the most rewarding aspects of her work is when she feels that she has in some way, however small, helped to make this difficult journey for both the children and the parents a little easier.

Actually, Samantha has no formal training as a secretary but her mum was a P.A. and taught her to 'touch type' from a very young age, also a small amount of medical knowledge gleaned from a previous temping position in her local doctors surgery and an aptitude for learning have stood her in good stead for her current position.

The temping job was an infill arrangement whilst the oncology department underwent a complete re-structuring and the outcome of this re-shuffle was the emergence of a brand new post, 3 jobs rolled into one - P.A. to Dr. Brock, Oncology Office Manager and Clinical Trials Administrator. Having already proved her worth, Samantha was accepted for the position.

Dr. Brock (a leading expert in her field) and the other consultants in the oncology department are heavily involved with the trialling of new treatments. As the 'Clinical Trials Administrator' Samantha has to complete all the necessary procedures to obtain ethical approval. To do this, a strict protocol has to be adhered to before it can be put before and passed by an 'ethics committee'. Also, as the Office Manager, Samantha has to ensure that her unit is properly equipped and running smoothly at all times. All three jobs put together keep her incredibly busy but she is lucky to share the office with two other secretaries and they are all very supportive of one another.

The department has a friendly and relaxed atmosphere. They pull together as a team to get the work done but flexi-time means that they can vary their hours as necessary. Another benefit Samantha finds about working within the NHS is that personal development is strongly encouraged. They undergo regular appraisals and there are multiple opportunities to attend training courses to further their career for those that wish to do so.

During the course of her work, contact with the families concerned is inevitable and generally spans over several months, so striking a balance between caring immensely and becoming too emotionally involved is a critical part of the job, however, Samantha has first hand experience of the impact it has on a family because, by tragic co-incidence, after having taken on the position, her cousin was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of cancer and treated at Great Ormond Street Hospital!

Christmas and new year of course, can be a particularly emotional time for the children and their parents, especially for those who are unable to make it home. Everyone in the hospital goes out of their way to make certain it as enjoyable as possible, however, not everybody celebrates Christmas and this is a small example of where some cultural awareness and sensitivity has to be demonstrated.

Great Ormond Street can be assured that all of us at DeskDemon, and our readers will have the children and the parents in their thoughts over the festive period.

Spread a little happiness and make a donation to Great Ormond Street Hospital - Ring Claire at DeskDemon on 0870 2419939 for payment instructions.

Bio -Claire Portman has a background in direct sales, marketing and senior account management, she is also a working Mum! She joined the DeskDemon team earlier this year as the Sales & Marketing Manager.

Day In The Life Series: We are always interested to hear from senior P.A.'s, or people that work in a particularly interesting environment or have a very special story to tell - if that is you, send a short message via email to cportman@deskdemon.com and we will be in touch!