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Staff spotlight: Sarah Hobson

Sarah Hobson profile image

Name: Sarah Hobson
Job title: Student Wellbeing and Advice
Year started at BSMS: 2022

Tell us a bit about your background

Before starting at BSMS, I worked over at the University of Sussex in the International Student Support team for many years, being responsible for coordinating the welcome and orientation programmes for international students as well as running various wellbeing and support initiatives. Looking back, I really didn’t enjoy the pressure and stress of organising big welcome events and making sure induction ran smoothly! However, the part of the job I did really enjoy was meeting with students one-to-one to give them space to talk through whatever was challenging for them, and to help them overcome these things and get on with having a great university experience. Alongside this, I began training as a counsellor also and became interested in supporting others with their mental health. When a role as a Student Wellbeing Adviser came up at BSMS, I leapt at the chance to not only prioritise student wellbeing and one-to-one work, but to experience medical student support and the unique challenges they face during such intense training.

What’s the day-to-day of your role like?

The majority of my job involves meeting with students in a confidential setting, for 30-minute appointments requested by the students. We talk over whatever they would like to discuss. I write up case notes and go through any follow up tasks, such as liaising with colleagues around the School to get various support procedures put in place for the student, or providing follow-on information or signposting to the student by email. I regularly check-in on students who are going through a particularly tough time also, or who have ongoing support needs, ensuring that we provide consistent and appropriate help to those who need it.

What aspect of your role do you enjoy the most?

It’s really satisfying to play a part in helping students to overcome the life curveballs or ongoing challenges they are experiencing, or to sometimes simply support students in figuring out what it is they need for themselves. I find it rewarding to help students navigate University systems or overcome a sense of imposter syndrome in the early years of the course, and then see them successfully graduate a few years later.

In terms of successes, which accomplishments are you most proud of?

Rather than any specific individual accomplishments, I am very proud of managing to balance my work alongside parenting two young children and also currently studying for a postgraduate degree in Counselling and Psychotherapy. The occasional ball gets dropped and a spinning plate or two gets smashed here or there, but on the whole I keep a level head, stay calm, and try to practise what my team preaches around making time for looking after my own wellbeing and needs as well as others’.

BACKGROUND IMAGE FOR PANEL

How do you contribute to creating an inclusive and welcoming environment at work?

I try to offer colleagues and students alike the same open, caring, and respectful treatment which I would hope for from them. I find that remaining curious about others - how they might have come to think in the way they do, and why they act or behave the way they do - can really help to create empathy and understanding rather than jumping to assumptions and easy, possibly wrong, conclusions. Considering the diversity of lived experience of all of the different members of our BSMS community, and recognising that this might be very different to my own, is something I try to keep in mind.

Tell me something about you that most people don’t know about you.

I used to be a Samaritans volunteer. My regular shift was 2am-5am which was exhausting but the calls received during those hours always felt very meaningful and helpful to callers who often cannot access other support services at that time.

What are your other interests / hobbies?

I am finally reconnecting with cooking; a joy from my pre-kids past which had become lost through weaning toddlers and having all cooking attempts rejected by tiny food critics (they don’t pull any punches…). I now have a little more bandwidth to try new recipes and as autumn is my favourite season for ingredients too, it feels like a good time for leaning into this hobby.