Piotr graduates as Trust’s first nuclear medicine apprentice | News

Congratulations to Piotr Balicki, Nuclear Medicine Clinical Technologist, who is the first person to complete a nuclear medicine apprenticeship at Royal Surrey.

In 2021, Piotr was working as an assistant practitioner at our hospital when he heard about the apprenticeship opportunity and decided to put himself forward.

Three years on, he is graduating with a 2:1 BSc (Hons) degree and has already stepped into a Band 6 role with the Trust.

Reflecting on his apprenticeship, Piotr said: “It has involved a lot of stress and hard work but it’s also been a brilliant journey. I’ve really enjoyed the whole course and getting deeply involved in the clinical learning.”

Piotr’s apprenticeship included a mixture of workplace and online learning with face-to-face study blocks at the University of West of England (UWE).

He added: “The biggest challenge I faced was the amount of time I needed to study on top of doing my work and for my final year I actually moved closer to the hospital to cut down on the travelling and free up more study time.

“I worked full time apart from Wednesdays, which were spent taking part in the virtual learning sessions provided by UWE.

“I’ve had the best support from my mentor, Gary Mutch, Nuclear Medicine Advanced Practitioner, and also colleagues in the Knowledge and Library Services team, who were very supportive and helpful – they helped me a lot by finding materials I needed for assignments.

“The degree involves a lot of work and commitment, but there’s no student debt at the end. From my point of view it’s been a great adventure and I’m proud of my achievement.”

Funding for the course is provided by the Trust’s apprenticeship levy and the department has plans in place to take on another nuclear medicine apprentice in 2026. Take a look at our apprenticeship opportunities on Roogle.

Pictured above, left to right: Piotr and Gary.