Laura Aldridge (Careers and Employability Consultant) takes an in depth look at the different pathways into this career area.  Links to the recordings of the employer presentations from the recent ‘Careers in Cardiac Sciences Event’ can be found at the end of this article.   

Cardiac sciences is a career area, which is often of interest to sports sciences students.  The knowledge that a sports science student gains from their degree about anatomy and physiology can be very useful in this job field.  However, it is important to understand the different entry routes into this diverse career path. 

1.  What is cardiac sciences? 

This field of work involves investigating known and suspected heart disease.  Cardiac scientists carry out vital diagnostic, monitoring and analytical tests for patients with known or probable heart disease.   

2. What kind of tasks do cardiac scientists carry out? 

Cardiac scientists have direct contact with patients of all ages.  Depending on their precise role, they could carry out a range of procedures: 

• Echocardiography involves the use of ultrasound to obtain pictures of the heart.  This helps to diagnose and track diseases which may affect the structure or the function of the heart. 
• Pacemaker and implantable defibrillator (ICD) implantation and follow up entails measuring and programming pacemaker/ICD devices to ensure that they are working correctly, when they are implanted and at subsequent follow-up. 
• Exercise stress testing involves monitoring a patient as he or she conducts exercise (usually on a treadmill) to check if the blood vessels in his or her heart are functioning correctly. 
• Electrocardiography involves placing electrodes on the chest, arms and legs to detect the electrical activity within the heart.  This helps to detect rhythm or structural abnormalities as well as identifying those at risk or those having a heart attack.  
• Event recorder (ECG / BP monitoring) entails applying a device that is worn for up to a week and analysing the subsequent results.  This test helps to diagnose rhythm abnormalities that may be less frequent and were not detected on a standard resting electrocardiogram.  
• Pressure monitoring at cardiac catheterisation involves monitoring and measuring the invasive pressures in the heart during procedures such as cardiac catherization, electrophysiological studies and coronary angioplasty. 

3. What kind of skills and qualities are needed in this job role? 

As this role involves direct contact with patients, it is important that cardiac scientists have strong interpersonal and communication skills.  Cardiac scientists need to have good scientific knowledge and technical ability as they have to be comfortable using modern technology and complex equipment.  They work within a multi-disciplinary team of healthcare professionals and therefore good team-working skills are also essential.  Cardiac scientists need to have good attention to detail, as accuracy is very important when they are carrying out tests and communicating results to patients or other professionals.  Those who are applying to the Scientist Training Programme also need to show evidence of strong leadership skills. 

4. Routes into this career path for a sports science student 

The Scientist Training Programme (STP) is one of the routes for science graduates into clinical scientist roles in England within the NHS.  Those who are successful in gaining a place on the STP (within the cardiac science specialism) would be employed within the NHS on a three-year paid training programme which includes work-based and academic learning.  The STP also provides successful applicants with an opportunity to complete a funded, part time professionally accredited Masters degree at a university relevant to their chosen specialism. 

Those who are employed as clinical scientists (within the cardiac science field) work at a more senior level and have responsibility for carrying out more complicated tests and interpreting the results of each test.  They may also have supervisory or management responsibilities, for example for resources. 

Healthcare science practitioners assess patients using diagnostic equipment, and they put together technical reports of the tests that they perform.  They may be based in a hospital cardiology department, but they can work in other settings as well. 

Healthcare science practitioner roles are open to those with A-levels.  However, due to the highly competitive nature of the Scientist Training Programme, graduates do sometimes apply to trainee healthcare science practitioner roles as well, which then involves completion of further training via the NHS Practitioner Training Programme (PTP). 

Echocardiography Training Programme is an 18 month, full time, paid work-based training scheme which enables those who complete it to obtain a Post-graduate Certificate in Echocardiography and a British Society of Echocardiography Accreditation in Transthoracic Echo.  This then leads to qualification as an accredited echocardiographer.  

5. Where are opportunities in cardiac sciences advertised? 

The NHS usually advertise for the STP vacancies once a year, in early January.  You can find details of these opportunities on the STP website.     

Trainee healthcare science practitioner roles are advertised on www.jobs.nhs.uk.  Echocardiography Training Programme vacancies are also advertised via this website.  

6. What kind of work experience is helpful for these roles? 

As cardiac science job opportunities can be very competitive to gain entry to, it is essential for students to gain some relevant work experience to increase their chances of success. 

The following could be helpful types of work experience: 

• General volunteering in a hospital setting for example as a ward volunteer. 
• Paid work within the NHS for example as a healthcare assistant. 
• Other voluntary or paid work within a care setting for example within a care home or hospice. 
• Placements within a cardiac setting.  For example, those students who study for the MSc in Clinical Exercise Physiology at LJMU complete a cardiac placement within a hospital setting. In addition, LJMU has appropriately qualified staff who undertake cardiac screening and other cardiac science roles within their research and therefore observation at these events may be beneficial.  

It is important that applicants to cardiac science job roles are able to demonstrate a genuine interest in working with the healthcare sector, and a commitment to patient care.  At interviews for NHS posts, interviewers often ask questions that require candidates to describe a time when they have demonstrated the NHS values.  Clearly, it is easier for candidates to do this if they have already spent some time gaining experience in a hospital or other care setting.  It is also vital that applicants for cardiac science roles can show a realistic understanding of what this job field involves, which is why it is helpful to do a relevant placement. 

7. Other job roles which may be of interest 

If you are interested in careers within cardiac science, you may also wish to investigate the following job areas:        

• Respiratory physiology and sleep sciences 
• Neurophysiology 
• Exercise physiology 

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Access the recordings of the employer presentations from the ‘Careers in Cardiac Science Event’ on 16/11/22 via the below links:  

Aneliese Lagan, Cardiac Physiologist at Manchester Foundation Trust.    

Ellie Fletcher, Trainee Cardiac Scientist (on the Scientist Training Programme) at The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals. 

Todd Buckler – Trainee Echocardiographer at Blackpool Victoria Hospital 

All of these speakers are recent LJMU graduates who provide inspirational advice about how to gain entry to the above career paths. 

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All information in this article was correct at the time of going to print.  However, some facts can be subject to change, therefore students are advised to refer to the websites provided for the most up to date information.  Some information in this article was taken from the Health Careers website and the NHS Health Education England website, accessed January 2023.  Thank you to Dr David Oxborough for his contribution to this article.