In our last members’ survey, you told us that more effort is needed to encourage the next generation of clinicians, scientists and nurses into endocrinology. Your call has not gone unheard, and many initiatives are taking shape to ensure our discipline moves into the future, fresh with new talent.

ENLISTING ENDOCRINE AMBASSADORS

Endocrinology extends across many aspects of research: there is no such thing as a typical ‘endocrine scientist’. It was in light of this that we launched our Endocrine Ambassador scheme for our scientist members, to encourage researchers to ‘pick up the flag’ and raise the profile of endocrinology amongst colleagues in medicine. These Endocrine Ambassadors are poised to play an important role, showcasing endocrinology’s many different flavours so that students and colleagues appreciate the breadth the discipline has to offer. To help them achieve this, the Society makes funding available for Endocrine Ambassadors to invite speakers to their institutions, opening the door to interdisciplinary collaborations for current researchers, and showing students where endocrinology may be able to take them.

Find out more about Endocrine Ambassadors at www.endocrinology.org/membership/endocrine-ambassadors.

BOOSTING ENDOCRINE NURSE NUMBERS

Endocrine nurses are an integral part of many clinical teams across the UK, with the specialism continuing to grow. A push to increase the visibility of endocrinology to young nurses is currently underway. Improving the information provided on the Society website is an important part of our strategy, as it acts as a portal, enabling new nurses to learn what our discipline has to offer.

Combining an online presence with a physical presence can be effective in reaching new audiences, so the Society attended the Royal College of Nursing’s International Nursing Research Conference in May. With the help of our Nurse Committee members, this was a fantastic opportunity for nurses to hear first-hand an account of the life of an endocrine nurse, and the unique balance of chronic and acute medicine it offers.

TASTER DAY TEMPTATION

Many trainee clinicians don’t get the opportunity to experience what endocrinology has to offer. This sometimes leads to misconceptions about what the discipline involves. While specialist rotations offer the opportunity to remedy this problem by providing practical experience, initial interest needs to be generated if trainees are to enrol.

Trying to change perceptions is no easy task, especially not in a single day. Yet, as you may have seen in issue 126 of The Endocrinologist (Winter 2017), Early Career Steering Group members Louise Hunter and Shazia Hussain managed just that, with their successful diabetes and endocrinology taster day last year. Work is underway to replicate this success, with the aim of taking the format to different regions across the UK, utilising local clinicians to help address the low uptake that some areas suffer

You can find out more about endocrine career pathways and Society training and career development opportunities at www.endocrinology.org/careers.