Solihull College & University Centre recently welcomed Chartered Clinical Psychologist, Dr Sharna Lewis, to speak to Criminology & Psychology degree students.
The three-year BA Joint Honours Criminology & Psychology degree equips students with knowledge of multiple perspectives and real-life scenarios to encourage their understanding of complex social problems. Exposure to experts in the industry such as Dr Lewis facilitates students learning.
Following her three-year doctorate in Clinical Psychology in 2007, Dr Lewis has worked in the NHS and private practice as an expert witness and treating clinician. She shared her career journey with students and discussed the process of qualifying as an expert witness for court.
The students were engaged and asked Dr Lewis advice on a range of things, from work experience to educational next steps.
Course Coordinator, Jack Murphy, comments: “We are grateful to Dr Sharna Lewis for spending time with our students and giving them an insight into the career of an expert witness. We work hard to ensure our students have exposure to experts in the industry and gain the necessary information to progress in their chosen fields.”
Dr Lewis fascinated students with real-life anonymised case studies that she had been directly involved in, including a murder case and a domestic abuse case. She gave students the opportunity to share their thoughts at different stages of the cases and encouraged them to use the correct terminology when explaining a legal process. This allowed students to explore what they had been learning in class with real-life examples.
Once students have successfully completed their degree, they can progress to post-graduate study including MSc programmes for professional practice or higher-level specialist academic study.
