Case studies : Medical photographer: Jenni

On an average day, Jenni may have all sorts of tasks. One minute she can be designing a patient information leaflet, the next, she is being called to emergency theatre to photograph an unusual case.

I took a combined degree in Fine Art with Lens, Time and Digital Media at Chester University. From there, I started work at a medical photography department and enrolled onto a one-year Post Experience Certificate in Medical Photography. My background is actually quite creative rather than scientific. I've always had an interest in the sciences but I'm a very artistic person, which helps me incredibly in my job. It’s my creative and imaginative side that gives me talent in graphic design, video production and illustration. From there, I've undertaken advanced training courses in graphic design, video and illustration software at work.

This is my first job. I’ve been in it for five years now, and luckily I was promoted from trainee level to band 5 after just two years. Jobs for medical photographers are quite widespread over the country so I was lucky I didn’t have to re-locate.

The environment I work in changes as often as the type of work I’m doing. For patient photography, we have a fully equipped photographic studio. In the office area there are several workstations where all design and video work is completed. When we're called out to photograph patients we may be on a ward, in theatre, in the mortuary - basically in any department hospital-wide that needs us.

On an average day, I may have all sorts of tasks. One minute I can be designing a patient information leaflet, the next, I’m called to emergency theatre to photograph an unusual case. Back in the office there's a steady flow of patients from a plastics or dermatology clinic ready to have their various conditions photographed. In the afternoon I may be meeting with the marketing and communications manager to discuss the roll-out of a marketing pack that needs designing and then be editing video until home time. It can be a very fast moving job sometimes and the ability to multi-task is a must. There's something different every day to challenge you. I take great satisfaction from the creative side of the job and love to see the ‘hospital special’ newspaper wrap that I've been working on for the past few weeks land on my doorstep at home. I also love meeting all the different types of people, patients, consultants, printing company reps and other health care professionals.

There are aspects of my job that I find demanding. Apart from ensuring that short design/video deadlines are kept, I do find some of the photography work more challenging. This is usually whilst I’m working in the mortuary or photographing specific cases such as child abuse victims. You do find that you have to detach yourself somewhat from what you are photographing and of course if a specific episode is particularly upsetting, it's important always to de-brief with your manager. Although the job can be challenging at times, it’s very rewarding.

In five years' time I imagine that I shall have moved on to another hospital and be in a senior role within a medical photography department. My next challenge is to manage a team of people and possibly be responsible for a specific section of a department, answerable to the overall department manager.