UWTSD Degree Apprentice graduates with first class honours degree in Computing
Brandon Gorman, a Principal Support & Business Analyst at Digital Health and Care Wales (DHCW) is graduating today with a first-class honours BSc Computing (Data & Information Systems) Degree from UWTSD.
Brandon was born in Caerphilly and attended his local community school. As a child he said he grew recognising the power of education from an early age, watching his father change his career to become a qualified college lecturer and his mother upskilling in her role as a carer.
“As a result, I endeavoured to achieve the best results I could in my GCSEs. My perseverance paid off as I was offered a place at my local Sixth Form, however, it wasn’t to be. From a young age I understood that practical experience is just as valuable as a qualification and in June 2017 I took the biggest risk of my life (well… that’s how it felt) and dropped out of Sixth Form in favour of a Level 2 Apprenticeship at Digital Health Care Wales (DHCW).
After just eight months, Brandon was appointed as a Software Development Officer and said he was also ready to undertake a new qualification.
“I was introduced to the then Head of Workforce & Organisational Development Professor Wendy Dearing who introduced the idea of undertaking a part-time degree over 4 years with the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD).
Brandon said the prospect of learning new theories and processes such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Geographical Information Systems and Databases and Application Development and applying them into the workplace was both beneficial to him and DHCW.
“My aim was to take the skills from the degree and apply them in a professional way to deliver information and technology for better care,” he added.
He said the programme had helped his personal and professional growth.
“The biggest highlight of the course was meeting a new network of people, not just from other walks of life, but from my own organisation,” he added. “As a result, I have made a great friendship group who have provided support over the past four years.”
Having a fulltime job in the NHS, supporting clinical applications on-call, and undertaking a degree during a pandemic was a challenge but Brandon said he and his fellow apprentices overcame those challenges as a united unit as they worked on projects with lecturers to help the NHS.
“UWTSD has been extremely flexible, and their staff have a vibrant portfolio of knowledge and expertise that has made the learning process all that simpler,” he added.
“Over the past four years I have been promoted several times. As a result, I’m now in a management position and lead the support function of a community care system used in Wales called “Welsh Community Care Information System” (WCCIS) which aims to join up social care and creates a central repository to make care easier for the professionals involved and the patient.
“Professional development is extremely important to me, and I am always looking forward to working with people to improve my skills and where possible tutor staff on a skill that I have.
“I would love to pursue an MRes one day diving deeper into informed consent in a medical context and the challenges it poses.”
Further Information
Rebecca Davies
Executive Press and Media Relations Officer
Corporate Communications and PR
Email: rebecca.davies@uwtsd.ac.uk
Phone: 07384 467071