Going into the second year of Biomed WORK EXPERIENCE

Hey thankfully i'm done with my first year of Biomed, I'm about to go into my second year in September with a view to apply to GEM in my third year.

I have no relevant work experience at the moment, I was just wondering how much work experience is a good amount to get and what is the BEST work experience that i can bring up to give me the best chance at interview?

Thank you
FMNL

The emphasis should be on the quality of your work experience and how you reflect on it, yes that is true, however for GEM in particular, you need to be very competitive as the number of places available is relatively small.

Warwick actually does specify a minimum number of hours of work experience which applicants should have and SGUL will ask you to provide references to include the dates and hours which you have worked. Other GEPs may have similar requirements, so it would certainly be a good idea to check carefully - your application needs to be tailored to the courses which you think you'll have the greatest chance of getting into, so you need to make sure you're meeting all the requirements.

As such it would be a very good idea to start getting your work experience and volunteering sorted as soon as possible. Do not leave it for third year, i.e. a month before you send off your application. Other applicants will have spent months and years putting together a varied set of experiences and they will gain the edge over you.

The example provided by Warwick is merely 70 hours- 2 weeks. I don't believe years of work experience is necessary, volunteering starting next summer before he begins 3rd year should suffice in my opinion. This enables him to find copious amounts of experience, well over 70 hours. Burdening him with work experience in second year is too harsh IMO

Is it technically possible to get in with two weeks of full time work experience/volunteering to make up 70 hours the summer before? Yes, possibly.

Would it look better to do the same number of hours over a longer period of time to demonstrate commitment? Yes, and that's what many GEP students will be doing, and what the Warwick page is strongly hinting at.

Also, volunteering for a couple of hours a week over a few years is hardly a burden, the OP will be having to juggle far more than that as a clinical med student and junior doctor.

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Hey thankfully i'm done with my first year of Biomed, I'm about to go into my second year in September with a view to apply to GEM in my third year.

I have no relevant work experience at the moment, I was just wondering how much work experience is a good amount to get and what is the BEST work experience that i can bring up to give me the best chance at interview?

Thank you
FMNL