Scotland's Health Awards 2025: Inspiring mother of baby boy earns first-class degree in cardio physiology

While the 26-year-old knew juggling her traineeship with having a child would not be easy, she decided she would do everything she could to make it work and keep her degree on track.

With the support of Glasgow Caledonian University and NHS Golden Jubilee, a plan was quickly put in place to help her complete her studies. Her baby boy, Harris, was born in October.

Ms Dyet’s commitment to graduating on time saw her cram the bulk of her work placements during the second and third trimester of her pregnancy, then complete her fourth year university assessments and exams, including her dissertation, while on maternity leave.

Her efforts in excelling academically around her pregnancy and the birth of her son has led to her being nominated for the Young Achiever Award at this year’s Scottish Health Awards, hosted by The Scotsman and in partnership with the Scottish Government.

At times, balancing those commitments was hard for Ms Dyet.

“It’s really hard to even imagine going into any sort of lecture when you’ve got a cute baby you want to spend all your time with,” she said. “I’d put him to bed, then I’d sit with my laptop for two hours and, of course, that’s the night he doesn’t want to go to sleep or he’s up every so often.

“So it would be another night where the work just got pushed aside. Finding the time to do it all was hard.”

Ms Dyet said she really valued the support she received from her NHS colleagues during this time.

“All the staff in the department were really accommodating,” she said. “Everybody juggled things to make it work for me and they were always accessible when I had questions from home.”

Last month, Ms Dyet found out she achieved a degree in BSc Clinical Physiology (Cardiology), graduating with first-class honours.

“I felt amazing,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting to get a first-class degree, so I was really relieved and surprised. The pressure was good and I enjoyed the challenge. I am proud of myself.”

On top of that, her manager at NHS Golden Jubilee, Murray Jummun, said the work she submitted was among the best the department had seen.

“Usually there’s a couple of tweaks needed, but there were no changes required in her portfolio and in our time that’s unheard of,” he said. “To have nothing to change, because Jennifer’s done it all, is amazing.

“We would have just been happy with her passing what she had to pass, but to get the extra accolade of a first-class degree is amazing.”

Mr Jummun commended Ms Dyet on how pro-active and organised she had been throughout the year, despite having so much on in her personal life.

“She’s had to attend keep in touch days, find childcare to travel to presentations in Edinburgh at short notice, and lots of other bits and pieces,” he said. “She’s just great, She’s academic, down to earth, great with patients and good with the team.”

On reflection, he said he hoped Ms Dyet was a “shining example” of how, with the right support, teams can adapt to changing plans and the different life circumstances staff may find themselves in.

“Supporting members of staff when they are off is not a barrier,” he said. “It’s about working together to understand what’s achievable. I’m really proud of both my team and Jennifer.”

Nominations for this year’s Scotland’s Health Awards close on Sunday, August 17. The awards ceremony and gala dinner will be held at the Edinburgh Corn Exchange on Thursday, November 6.

Nominations can be submitted online at scotlandshealthawards.co.uk.