HOT SEAT
An interview with Jim Thurston , SRP ' s Incoming President
Jim Thurston is Head of Medical Physics and Healthcare Technology at Dorset County Hospital . He manages departments providing support to equipment using both ionising and non-ionising radiation . Jim is also President-Elect of SRP , taking over as President at the AGM on 7 July 2021 for a two-year term . Deputy Editor Steph Bloomer talks to him about his career , his vision for the Society and , naturally , the impact of COVID-19 on his work-life and the Society .
Jim is using a background wallpaper for the video chat . “ I ’ m actually just hiding the fact that I ’ m in a shared office here . I have one other person in the office with me today ; normally there ’ s up to four of us in here , so it ’ s easier to block it out with something a bit more interesting ,” explains Jim .
Working in the medical sector Jim says , “ we ’ ve had to adapt . Some of the quality control of radiological equipment can be delayed and some people have been seconded into doing other things in other departments . On the medical device side , meeting the demand in intensive care , monitoring equipment ... it was a huge logistical nightmare ... it ’ s been quite a fraught time , but we ’ ve got over those big peaks .”
Whereas in some sectors that SRP serves , a return to something resembling normal may be on the horizon and will come as a welcome relief , for the medical sector the effects of Covid will be felt for some time . Jim explains that for the medical sector , “ the real issue we ’ ve got now is going to be the fact
Radiation Protection Today Summer 2021
“ Huge boots to fill ... it ’ s quite humbling that I ’ m going to be following on from a number of very strong leaders ”
that we have to gear up for ... the work that has been postponed including , unfortunately , some pretty critical stuff ... it ’ s all going to cascade on ; we won ’ t catch up properly for 2 , 3 or even 5 years . Everyone clinically is going to be playing catch up , working longer days , possibly weekend work ."
Career History and Advice I asked Jim to describe his career progression . “ How I got here I guess is quite a long journey ,” Jim explains . Jim ’ s interest started in the non-ionising field during a year in industry as part of his undergraduate degree where he did medical electronics : “ it was fascinating , great fun and I thought ‘ this is what I want to do as a career ’.” But from this initial interest in the non-ionising technologies , Jim ’ s first job was in nuclear medicine . “ I was injecting radiopharmaceuticals into patients and scanning them and dealing with image processing . It was ionising radiation , I really never thought I would end up doing that ”. From that first role in Charing Cross Hospital , Jim says , “ I ’ ve been fortunate to work at a number of London Hospitals . That ’ s what tends to happen , there is a London effect , you tend to move around - like a merry-goround .” We also discussed the career benefit of sometimes making a sideways move rather than going for a promotion ; “ it gave me a much wider experience ,” says Jim .
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