*Closed* - Work Experience and Voluntary Work [Part 1 of 2]

So I haven't managed to get any work experience this year. Is that a big problem? I did manage to get 2 weeks at a hospital last year and a week(ish) at a GP surgery (also last year) coupled with voluntary work at a nursing home. However I'm worried because most people I know have found more WE this year and I don't seem to have done anything, especially because I'm sitting my UKCAT in the holidays and hoping to revise. Does anyone know how I could get WE at short notice?

Hi everyone, i was just wondering whether i have a sufficient amount of work experience and voluntary work for when i apply in september/ocotober:

1 week cardiologist work experience
1 week neurologist work experience
1 week GP work experience

3 months Hospital Ward Volunteer
3 months Charity shop Volunteer
(Possibly volunteering at a caring home)

That shouldn't be a problem at all. Just make sure you know what you got from your work experience, and why it reinforced your ambition to study medicine. Also think about challenges you may have faced, and how you overcame them.

In term of getting WEx on short notice, try emailing surgeons directly if you want to shadow them for a day, or maybe private hospitals? Depends how short notice you're talking!

If you have a coroners near you, I really recommend trying to see an autopsy (they should do open ones for police students that you may be able to join in on), but you have to be 18.

My understanding is I then become an HCA, that's what they said.


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Thank you so much - that was reassuring! Unfortunately I'm only 17 and most of the private hospitals I've emailed have said it's difficult for them but I think there was a lot through from last year. Thanks again!

I saw open heart surgery at 17. If you go behind the WEx people's backs and email surgeons or consultants directly, they tend to be able to pull some strings and get you in quickly. I shadowed an anaesthetist within 2 weeks of emailing them, and it was one of the most informative and exciting things I have done, even though I was only there for 10 hours!

Really! Thanks. I emailed a consultant and he said he would be happy for me to go for two weeks, but I wasn't sure because it was such short notice and the HR department hadn't got back to me yet, though I sent health forms etc with my initial email. I think I might go though instead. Can I ask what sort of experience and voluntary work you had? I'm thinking of applying to Leicester medical school. or is it easier just messaging you?

The PS Help service is undergoing some changes and won't be free or ran by our helpers when it returns however anyone with PS Helper in their usertitle was one of our fantastic reviewers so you can spot them

Well that's a bit ****


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Hi I'm about to start Year 12 (first year of A-levels) and I'm planning to do more work experience/volunteering in the future, but I was wondering if what I've done so far is adequate?

- 1 week at GP (some admin, mostly sitting in with doctors and nurses (and a visiting pharmacist and physiotherapist), doctor meetings and home visits)

- 1 week at hospital (A&E) - mostly shadowing doctors and consultants, seeing X-rays and CT scans etc.

- Weekly volunteer at local charity shop (1 year)

- Weekly volunteer at local care home (3 years) - mostly interacting and chatting with the residents

Secretary of school charity committee

Also, does anyone have any WE/volunteering ideas that would make me stand out? (I'm really interested in paediatrics by the way) I would be so so so grateful!! o Thank you

It's not really about how much work experience you have or even really what type providing its clinical or caring.
It's more about what you can say about it, what you learnt and what you gained from it.
Many open days I went to said don't worry if you haven't got clinical (obviously you have plenty), they understand it's hard to get, but voluntary work of some sort is essential.

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I thought the threads were too big and my comments always get lost so i thought i would post this instead.
I am hoping to apply to medicine for 2015 entry, but i have very little volunteering experience!

My volunteering:
*7 weeks (3 hours every Saturday) volunteering on an orthopedic ward (just making tea and talking to patients)
*5 weeks (3 hours every Tuesday) volunteering on an elderly medicine ward (the same tasks as above)
that totals around 12 weeks of being in the hospital, so three months!
*1 week in a specialist cancer hospital shadowing doctors (junior/reg/consultants). you got to spent a lot of time talking to patients and also got to actually help the doctor take a history and diagnose which was nice!
*1 day learning basic life support and basic first aid training (also at the cancer hospital)

work experience:
*I have a part time job (it is 12 hours a week hence why i have very little voluntary experience because this plus college takes up all my time) I work in a pet shop for a very large chain company where i am constantly interacting with people and pets!

that is literally it! at college I am part of the charities group and that is the only thing i can think about that will also be a bonus!

I literally have no spare time and more volunteering experience will pretty much be impossible to get! Is this enough or does anyone have any other ideas???

also I am hoping to take part in charity events such as race for life, Macmillan coffee morning and the Christie midnight walk! which are all charity fundraising events!

That's fine as long as you can talk about it and have learned a lot from it. The volunteering is great, you must have seen a lot of the teamwork involved in healthcare and the role of doctors, and the job is fine. Talking to a diverse range of people is always useful. Work experience isn't about volume it is about the quality of your learning. Make sure you reflect back on it a lot and you'll be fine.

The only other thing you could do if you're super busy is something at the college perhaps? Mentoring? But even that is not a hugely important part of a personal statement as long as you can show teamwork, leadership communication etc

How would i go about becoming a mentor?
and thank you so much that has put my mind at rest! I am constantly stressing about work experience and volunteering, its like medical schools just want us to stress till our eyes pop out!
I have learnt a lot from it all and i definitely have bucket loads to write about in my personal statement!