People who have had hospital work experience ... Help?

Do you have a family friend or any tenuous connection whatsoever to a hospital? Doesn't even necessarily have to be a doctor - researcher, nurse, whatever is also a potential way to get some. It sounds awful but this is honestly the best/easiest way to get hospital work experience. I managed to get experience quite smoothly through this route - my friend who had no route sent off a dozen letters, rang them every few days and the best they got was to be a volunteer on a ward buying people newspapers. That would be my advice, if you can possibly swing anything.

Email them, its usually quicker. And also call them if you haven't had a reply by the end of next week!!

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Well for one thing, you'll need to be more specific to each hospital and exactly what area of the hospital it is that you want experience in.

Sending a generic letter might be obvious that it is generic in its wording or what have you.

Also, do you have any contacts that you may know working in the hospital or knowing someone who does? Contacts are usually the best way to get work experience.

As well as contacts, see if the hospital have any summer schemes for prospective medics be it a week work experience in the hospital going around the different departments and gaining experience from that.

Good luck!

The hospitals near me are very small, there's not an A&E department closer than an hour's drive .. I have no contacts at all so I have to do it all by myself unfortunately. They also don't have any summer schemes. I just feel like giving up, it would be easier learning Hungarian on a unicycle than getting work experience

Well, ask friends if they know someone close who works in a hospital or is involved somehow.

Write more specific letters, you don't have to work in A&E specifically, you can try to get some work experience in research or shadowing, so be specific talking about the work of whoever you're writing to and why you want to experience it. What do you want to gain from it.

Maybe even go in person and show interest, even if it may be shadowing! Shadow perhaps a local GP, go in and ask if you can. Be persistent. A copy of 1 letter perhaps conjured up in a day or 2 won't show the passion and interest that would come across with specific letters or in person.

I'm baffled at how so many people get clinical work experience. I can only get admin work in GP's.

I asked my mum who's a midwife to ask whether a pre-medical student could work in a hospital and they declined on the basis that it would be pointless for someone with zero knowledge in the area to shadow a doctor. Everyone else seems to get clinical experience easily.

Anyway I am rambling on. Are there disability schools near you? I worked in one for a while and it was a great experience. Learnt practical skills, administrative skills and was taught about policies like safeguarding; all of which is very applicable to medicine.

Hi are you studying medicine or are going to apply? And if you don't mind me asking how much relevant work experience do/did you have? There's a disability school where I live actually, really small so I'm not sure if it will offer we but I'll try did you take time out of school for it? Thanks!

Hi everyone

Last week I wrote 11 letters to all the hospitals within a 3 hour radius of my house and I still have had no reply. I wrote to three hospices/care homes as well and I've had one reply which is promising but my question is how long would it take the hospitals to reply? Eg after how long will it be obvious that they have all just ignored my letters? (In which case I'll send more)

Thanks!

Thanks for your reply sadly I don't obviously I know my GP but she doesn't offer any shadowing at all