Any jobs for 16 year olds that are medicine related?

I want to get a usual paid job this summer for some extra money and was wondering if there any jobs which would directly contribute to my medical school profile. I was thinking jobs in pharmacies? But I can't think of any others and don't know where 16 year olds would be able to work in places like this. And would any job as long as it has a lot of people contact look good?

Reply 1

returnmigrant

Any 'people' experience is useful - it is difficult getting clinical experience under 18 so use this time to build up your 'people skills' and your confidence in dealing with strangers.Yes, Pharmacy work would be useful - especially since you can only apply for 4 Medicine courses; your 5th choice on your UCAS form could be Pharmacy or Pharmacology - but there are lots of other ways to build up experience.

Volunteering/working in an Aged Care Home would be ideal. You would gain confidence of dealing with older people, understanding more about 'end of life' care, and have lots of good examples to use in your PS. Other areas worth looking at are charity shops, summer play schemes for kids etc - again, you gain experience of dealing with a particular age group, and learn useful stuff like patience and resilience. Longer term, look at paid/volunteer work at Special Schools, Brownies/Cubs, English language teaching with migrants or volunteering somewhere like a Food Bank, Homeless Shelter etc - anything that gives you people experience and allows you to talk about qualities like compassion, communication, understanding of individual need etc.

Lots and lots of sensibe TSR info and advice about 'Work Experience for Medicine' here : http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/content.php?r=15999-medicine-work-experience

Reply 2

mollyxrose

I started working as a trainee healthcare assistant at my local pharmacy at 17. It's part time so I only work Saturday mornings which is perfect for me. If you can't get a job like that then volunteering is 100% the way to go. In fact, a job that is not related to medicine combined with volunteering would be great. Having a long term part time job shows commitment and dedication which med schools look for. It really doesn't have to be medically related - anything that involves working with the public will allow you to build social skills and confidence which will be of massive help to you.
I also work at a restaurant as a waitress which involves working as a team, under pressure, and helping customers. Those 3 aspects alone reflect what a career in medicine will consist of, so don't feel the need to restrict yourself to medically related jobs. Any job will help your application :smile:

Reply 3

username2471155

Original post by HR321

You could work as a assistant pharmacist

Reply 4

HR321

Thank you for all the replies. I'm starting long-term volunteering at my local hospital in summer as well and will definitely now look for a paid job in any caring position or pharmacy.