Emma, joint head of neuropsychology, tells us her CUH story.
The neuropsychology department is a small team of 12 psychologists and a secretary. The department specialises in the cognitive, emotional and behavioural effects of brain injury and neurological disease, with particular specialism in memory. The team receives referrals mostly from neurologists, neurosurgeons and specialist nurses with questions about a patient’s cognitive function (their thinking skills) and how best to help.
Q: What do you like most about CUH?
I love the fact that CUH is a highly respected, big, acute hospital and we see the most complex patients here, so my job is always interesting.
I live in Cambridge and I think anyone who lives in or around Cambridge is grateful that we have such an amazing hospital on our doorstep.
I love the range of patients we see; and also working with other staff who are all so committed. Some are the very best in their field, so it’s such a pleasure as we never stop learning in this team. I feel like I’m challenged every day.
Q: What was your journey to get to this role?
I did a degree in psychology and then a PhD in neuropsychology. I then trained to be a clinical psychologist at the University of East Anglia and all of my placements were in Cambridge. The reason I chose that particular course is because Cambridge is a centre of excellence for neurosciences. I was living in Sheffield which I loved, but Cambridge is so well known for neurosciences and that was my interest.
I joined CUH in 2000 as a trainee in what was called the psychological treatment centre and, after finishing as a trainee in 2003, I worked here in neuropsychology for five years until 2008. I then left CUH but came back in 2011 as joint head of the department.
So, I’ve been at CUH for 21 years, albeit with a 2.5 year gap.
Q: What changes have you seen at CUH in the last 20 years?
The infrastructure is an obvious one. We weren’t a biomedical campus when I joined in 2000 and parking was much easier then! Our department has grown in that time too – for example in 2011 there were four psychologists and we provided 300 appointments a year. We now provide over 3,000 appointments a year. We now see patients with every type of neurological condition, whereas when I started we only saw patients with certain conditions and rarely saw inpatients. We now have both inpatient and outpatient teams; the inpatient team works in the major trauma centre and on the neuroscience wards, and our outpatient team deals with all the neurological conditions.
Q: What do you enjoy most about your role?
We have a fantastic relationship with the neurologists, neurosurgeons, nurses and allied health professionals that we work with. Everyone has the patient at the heart of everything they do. And everyone is hardworking and committed.
I think we see the most fascinating patients in the hospital because if you’re dealing with people’s brains, you do end up seeing some really rare and unusual disorders, but you never forget that there is an individual behind that, who is part of a family.
A lot of our diagnostic work is like a puzzle and we have to try to work out what the problem is, for example does this patient have Alzheimer’s disease or another dementia? Has this person’s brain injury caused this change in behaviour, or is it something else? We also help rehabilitate patients who have had a brain injury, help patients adjust to difficult diagnoses like young onset Alzheimer’s, and we also support patients and spouses of people with rare dementias.
My career is fascinating and no two days are the same. You have to be constantly on your toes and have to be on top of your game, as you’re working alongside such brilliant people.
Finally I love our team – we get on so well and have such fun because we all enjoy the work we do.
Q: What advice would you give to anyone wanting to start in this career?
You really have to be interested in people, the brain and science. And make sure you are completely passionate about it, as it’s a very long journey! To become a neuropsychologist you will need a good degree in psychology, although you don’t need an A level in it; then it’s best to get a PhD or MsC in psychology. After this you will need to spend time as an assistant psychologist before applying for a three year training course to be a clinical psychologist. Once you have qualified, you specialise in neuropsychology.
There are not many neuropsychology departments like ours at CUH, because we’re an acute hospital. A lot of neuropsychologists provide rehab to patients with brain injuries, but here we do everything.
Another route to do a related thing would be to train to be a medical doctor and become a neurologist specialising in cognitive function.
Q. Can you tell us about a project that really stands out to you?
At the moment our team is working hard on Long Covid, because brain fog after Covid is a concern for so many people. We have set up a service, jointly with Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust and other CUH departments, for patients with Long Covid. This is going well and we are getting positive responses from the patients we have seen, explaining to them why they might have memory problems or brain fog after having had Covid, and reassuring them that we don’t think there’s anything seriously wrong with their brain. We do recognise that the symptoms are difficult to live with but we have found ways to help these patients, which is exciting.