I was inspired to put together a blog about Bath given how lucky we are to have the NET conference, the leading annual international conference for networking in healthcare education, taking place there in 2020. Bath has two universities, The University of Bath, the location of the conference and Bath Spa University, along with several colleges which made it an ideal choice.
Set in southwest England, Bath was a town built for leisure, with natural thermal springs and rolling countryside providing visitors with relaxation and wellbeing since the city’s Roman times. Now a UNESCO World Heritage site, Bath’s honey-coloured Georgian architecture is everywhere you look, from the Royal Crescent to the impressive Circus.
For the literary among us, Bath was the home of the famous author Jane Austen, and references to the city abound in novels such as Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. I feel the city is best summed up in a quote by the heroine of Northanger Abbey, Catherine Morland,
"Oh! Who can ever be tired of Bath?"
Central to the city, the gothic Bath Abbey, with its origins in the 8th Century AD, dominates the skyline. In addition to the seemingly limitless collection of museums, galleries and heritage sites, Bath’s proximity to the ancient sites of Stonehenge and Avebury make it an ideal location for a cultural visit.
Bath has a rich academic history, particularly in healthcare. Doug Altman, founder and Director of the Centre for Statistics in Medicine and Cancer Research UK Medical Statistics Group, and Salleh Mohammad Yasin, Director of the International Institute for Global Health, are both alumni of the University of Bath. I look forward to exploring this fantastic place once again, in addition to hearing from leading speakers and educators attending the NET conference, of course!
The call for abstracts for the NET Conference 2020 is now open.