Kings College Workshop

On 1st February 2016, a few members of the outreach for medicine programme at Kings College London held a workshop at Highlands School for prospective medical students in year 12. In this workshop, we took part in 3 different activities: taking blood samples, suturing and taking blood pressure.

1. Taking Blood Samples

Blood Sample kept in a Vacutainer

A 3rd year medical student taught us how to take blood from a very realistic model of a human vein.
First you carefully take off the cap to expose the needle and then insert the needle at a 45 degree angle into a prominent vein with the hole of the needle facing upwards. Once the needle is in a good position (about 5mm deep into the vein) push in the vacutainer which should start to fill up with blood (in this case it was stained water). Remove the vacutainer once full and then carefully remove the needle to avoid any squirting.

2. Suturing 

This station was taken by a 2nd year medical student. Suturing is the process of sealing an open wound with stitches. We practiced this skill on another realistic model using forceps and a needle holder. This task was very fun but at the same time it required precision and concentration.

3. Taking blood pressure

We were taught how to do this manually by 2 4th year medical students however nowadays in hospitals it is more commonly calculated electronically. An ideal blood pressure is around 120/80. Anything below 90/60 is classified as a low blood pressure and anything above 140/90 is classifies as a high blood pressure.

This workshop was very interesting and educational - it was very fun to take part in practical and interactive activities involved in medicine and we are very grateful to have had this memorable and insightful experience.


By Stavri Eleftheriou and Chloe Poole