We are excited to tell you that there are now only four days to wait until the launch of the 2013 Signature Annual Awards.
Over the next three days we will remind you of some of the previous winners and their wonderful stories. In the past four years we have received hundreds of amazing nominations and the panel have often found it tough to choose the winners.
Who will you nominate this year? The 2013 Signature Annual Awards will launch on Thursday 14 February. Watch this space…
Queens University Belfast Medical School – Winner Organisational Achievement 2010 Signature Annual Awards
In 2010, Queens University Belfast (QUB) School of Medicine had been working in partnership with Action on Hearing Loss (then RNID) for ten years to provide courses for their medical students. Initially, two groups of 20 students opted to take a deafness module as part of their studies, this number was increased in 2008 due to popular demand. The module included the Signature Level 1 Award in British Sign Language (BSL), in addition to input on health care issues from a deaf perspective and input into a BSL dictionary of medical terminology.
Committed to developing their skills in communicating with Deaf people, many students went on to study the Signature Level 2 Certificate in British Sign Language in their own time. In their third year, they could opt to undertake a three week placement with Action on Hearing Loss, giving them more contact and experience with deaf people.
The partnership works directly with those who will be working as doctors within the local health service and helps to promote a society where deaf people have full access.
Signature were delighted to honour QUB with the 2010 Signature Annual Award for Organisational Achievement. Dr Jayne Woodside is pictured accepting the award with Brian Symington and Bobby Bailey from Action on Hearing Loss, alongside Signature Chief Executive, Jim Edwards. She said, “Our course is an important opportunity for medical students to develop deaf awareness and communication skills, and we are thrilled with this award”.
Two years on, the deafness module is still the most popular module for second year students and is consistently oversubscribed.
In 2012, QUB’s MA in Interpreting was approved by the National Registers of Communication Professionals working with Deaf and Deafblind people (NRCPD).