The Student Room Group

Voluntary Medical Work experience?

Me and some of my friends are AS level students and we have heard that we need some kind of work experience to stand appart from the other potential med school applicants. But thing is, we dont know how to get medical work experience because our school wont arrange it. So plz if anyone knows the way and method of doing so plz let me knw.

Thnx

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Reply 1
forgot to mention wer from east london. :smile:
Reply 2
go to the medical forum and search work experience. there are loads of threads.

but the simple answer is just to write/call hospitals, carehomes in your area. Or join something like RedCross of St.Johns.
I've just started as a hospital volunteer and I found the vacancy on the http://www.do-it.org website, failing that, just contact the hospital
Reply 4
Doing work experience won't set you apart from other medicine applicants, everyone who applies has done at least a few weeks, and most will have arranged it themselves.

Basically, contact every hospital and GP in the area and ask for some relevant work experience. I reccomend that you actually phone them - they rarely reply to letters. Also, start some voluntary work (on top of work experience) ASAP. Spend a few hours every week helping at an old folk's home, or a special school or whatever. If you do all that, you're about equal with everyone else applying.

If you look around the medicine forum, there's loads of threads on this.
Reply 5
Zakz
Me and some of my friends are AS level students and we have heard that we need some kind of work experience to stand appart from the other potential med school applicants. But thing is, we dont know how to get medical work experience because our school wont arrange it. So plz if anyone knows the way and method of doing so plz let me knw.

Thnx

Hi i've just applied to study Medicine so i am a year older then you.

I phoned my nearest hospital in the xmas hol's & after passin me on to various people i got in touch with the work experience maganer. i put my name down and spent five days of my Easter hol's at the hospital.

Uni's realise how hard it is to get work experience in hospitals so they also take into account voluntary work in your community, such as in charity shops and at the elderly homes. i also went away with a charity to france in the summer were i helped in a french hospice. Frind out if any of your nearest Hospice's want volunteers.

Don't leave it to your school to sort out as they will probably let you down.
Get on the phone & start ringing up places!!
Reply 6
Zakz
forgot to mention wer from east london. :smile:


There are some voluntary placements at the University College Hospital which will be a brillaint place to get experience as it is tied to University College of London!! As you live in London you could travel easily to the hospital by tube.
GOOD LUCK
Reply 7
lol ur right...im trying lol
You'll probably get more replies in the "medicine" sub forum.
Reply 9
Zakz
Me and some of my friends are AS level students and we have heard that we need some kind of work experience to stand appart from the other potential med school applicants. But thing is, we dont know how to get medical work experience because our school wont arrange it. So plz if anyone knows the way and method of doing so plz let me knw.

Thnx


1) You MUST get medicine work experience.
2) Why do you expect your school to organise it for you? You send in your CV and a cover letter to all nearby hospitals pleading for work experience for a duration of at least 2 weeks. You can also try the local GPs or nursing homes. Consider doing some charity work in your community. If you have the time and can afford it, do some interesting medicine work experience abroad with some charity, (only problem is that you might be too young). I have always wanted to do something like that.

Best of luck :smile:
Reply 10
Marie05
1) You MUST get medicine work experience.
2) Why do you expect your school to organise it for you? You send in your CV and a cover letter to all nearby hospitals pleading for work experience for a duration of at least 2 weeks. You can also try the local GPs or nursing homes. Consider doing some charity work in your community. If you have the time and can afford it, do some interesting medicine work experience abroad with some charity, (only problem is that you might be too young). I have always wanted to do something like that.

Best of luck :smile:

Most schools have some time set aside in the year for work experiance so it wouldn't be unfair of them to expect some help for their school.

To the OP your schools is useful resourse they will probably have had people applying to medical school previously and may have a record of where and who with they did their work experiance in which case you could write or phone them maybe if you write with a letter from your sixth form.
Reply 11
Zakz
Me and some of my friends are AS level students and we have heard that we need some kind of work experience to stand appart from the other potential med school applicants. But thing is, we dont know how to get medical work experience because our school wont arrange it. So plz if anyone knows the way and method of doing so plz let me knw.

Thnx


Well, I have a boil on my arse that's in need of lancing. Would that do?
Reply 12
randdom
Most schools have some time set aside in the year for work experiance so it wouldn't be unfair of them to expect some help for their school.


I didn't say it would be unfair. Work experience is each person's responsibility. I know some schools do offer work experience placements for their students and thats great...its much easier too. But when your school doesnt, then u do it yourself. Besides i have heard medical schools sometimes prefer it if you organise your own work experience.
Reply 13
Marie05
I didn't say it would be unfair. Work experience is each person's responsibility. I know some schools do offer work experience placements for their students and thats great...its much easier too. But when your school doesnt, then u do it yourself. Besides i have heard medical schools sometimes prefer it if you organise your own work experience.

The problem is that in the end of the day they aren't really going to know if the school helped you or not. Obviously if the school can't/won't help then the OP will have to go and sort out their own but the school is always a useful resource.
Hi
just wanted to know that i wanted know that if i work experience abroad for about 2-3 weeks would that be beneficial and increase my chances if getting into medicine.
Reply 15
How did you get a placement in France?
Reply 16
Wait let me rephrase,
does anyone know of any charity work I could do in France? any websites? I intend to work in France in the future.
Reply 17
Gap Medics / Work The World seem good! Seems like lots of opportunities listed here - http://www.oneworld365.org/activity/medical-health-medicine, Caribbean placement seems cool & its gets you out of the UK!!
Reply 18
agreed. try hospice volunteering if u are short of the wongs
Original post by FyreFight
Doing work experience won't set you apart from other medicine applicants, everyone who applies has done at least a few weeks, and most will have arranged it themselves.

Basically, contact every hospital and GP in the area and ask for some relevant work experience. I reccomend that you actually phone them - they rarely reply to letters. Also, start some voluntary work (on top of work experience) ASAP. Spend a few hours every week helping at an old folk's home, or a special school or whatever. If you do all that, you're about equal with everyone else applying.

If you look around the medicine forum, there's loads of threads on this.



I know this is an old thread but...

When do you recommend people should start looking for work exp (or when did you start looking assuming you're a medic)

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