work experience ... what department?

I'll be applying to my local hospital for work experience some time soon through my school who can gaurantee that 3 pupils will be allowed to participate in work experience at the hospital! I'll have to write a CV, then be interviewed and I will also be asked what department I'd like to have my work experience in! :smile:

I was wondering whether you guys could give me some advice!

I was thinking something like A&E but I think it would be very hard to get a 15 year old work experience in A&E! :redface:

Could you possibly suggest to me a few departments? :smile:

Thanks!

Reply 1

rahmed

Doesnt matter where - as long as you get experience working as a team. I worked in administration at a hospital, so as long as you can show teamworking skills etc... It's all the same. But if you have a choice go for something interesting.

Try working in an Old people's home as well.

Reply 2

lil groovy dude

OP

14

rahmed

Doesnt matter where - as long as you get experience working as a team. I worked in administration at a hospital, so as long as you can show teamworking skills etc... It's all the same. But if you have a choice go for something interesting.

Try working in an Old people's home as well.

Thank you for your comment :smile:

I'm gonna try and do Millenium Volunteers when I turn 16 (June 2008 :redface:

) so hopefully I will do voluntary work in a caring environment!

:smile:

Reply 3

graemematt

12

MV is a great idea! I'm gonna get my 200 hours soon :biggrin:

Reply 4

7589200

18

You want to see what goes on in a cath lab. Interventional Radiology is always nice to see. Go for Cardiology!

Reply 5

icy_shadow2006

During the summer i spent a week in a peadatrics department, that was amazin, really hectic n exciting. And there is so much there, peads clinic, Peads A&E, Premature unit, wards.....

I also spent a week in a radiology department, that was really intresting at first, but it got a wee bit repetative seeing the same procedures over and over again. Some of it was really really really cool though, like angios and ultrasound.

Reply 6

lil groovy dude

OP

14

atm it is deciding between Cardiology and Peadatrics department!

Keep your comments coming in! :smile:

But would they let me volunteer in such departments or would they say for certain departments such as the ones i mentioned you need to be over 18?

Thanks! :smile:

Reply 7

Revd. Mike

17

Word of warning, for clinical WE (i.e. shadowing doctors and stuff) they generally say you need to be over 16. If you're lucky, they might still let you :smile:

On my work experience, the most departments with the most wow factor were anaesthesia and surgery hehe, which were both very interesting, although two days of aneasthesia did get mildly repetetive hehe. Radiology was interesting for all of 10 minutes, but that was because the doctor I was with refused to answer my questions or speak to me for the most part.

I learnt the most in an outpatients clinic (sitting with the respiratory consultant), becase he actually took the time to discuss each patient and their history with me, he even discussed with me things he wouldn't talk to the patient about (like eventual prognosis and whether he thought they were malingerers hehe). He also let me examine a patient whilst he instructed me in diagnostic technique :biggrin:

That was probably the highlight hehe, because we're not supposed to have any hands on patient contact.

Sadly, you'll be very unlikely to get A&E placements, simply because the department is usually very hectic, there's less control over "distressing" situtations you may be exposed to, and it's a lot harder to get consent. Also, in a situation where the doctors and nurses need to be constantly thinking on their feet, it's harder for them to also have WE students around.

Best of luck!

Reply 8

Ribbons

12

graemematt

MV is a great idea! I'm gonna get my 200 hours soon :biggrin:

ooh go you! I remember how excited I was when I got mine :biggrin:

I luckily got to see many different departments...they were all interesting in their own ways. If I was to choose one, id have a hard time, but id probably go with cardiology. In A&E apart from a couple (REALLY REALLY) interesting patients, I saw mostly people with broken limbs! It really is up to you. But where ever you end up, im sure youll enjoy it! :smile:

Reply 9

ph9

10

whatever you do - do not ask for the gastro department. I was situated there (had no choice - wahey) and, yeah, ok, i ended up loving my week there and learned waaaay lots and things.

but it was a smelly ward and all the patients must have had halitosis and ... they all just stank.

lol, i know this is what medicine involves, blah blah so before anybody starts telling me i should get used to it, i KNOW ok.

i wish i'd got to do a week at the paed. department. so bad.

Reply 10

7589200

18

Paed department is boring compared to the glamorous world of Cardiology.

Reply 11

bright star

1

paeds was really boring when i went. there was nothing to do. i almost wanted to run away screaming, and i only spent half a day there. on the other hand when i was in cardiology, someone had a heart attack from walking on their treadmill, it was rather scary. (he was alright btw!)

Reply 12

ph9

10

i forgot to mention actually that the doctor supervising me saw how bored i was at one point during day one and so sent me off to the cardiology department (nothing to do at good old gastro) :biggrin:

. that was real good fun, i got to watch an ECG and everything wooo. the surgeon there was a bit of a rude snob but, you know, surgeon.

i still think the paediatrics would have been greater because i LOVE children, me.

what's so glamorous about cardiology then hmm?

Reply 13

ph9

10

bright star

paeds was really boring when i went. there was nothing to do. i almost wanted to run away screaming, and i only spent half a day there. on the other hand when i was in cardiology, someone had a heart attack from walking on their treadmill, it was rather scary. (he was alright btw!)

really? but... even if there WAS nothing to do, you'd have all those children to sit with and play guess who and connect 4 with!

though the heart attack incident does sound exciting.

Reply 14

bright star

1

most of the children were asleep, or drugged up or really tiny babies that'd break if you touched them. the ones that were alright were fussed over by the nurses so much that i couldn't get a look in. so based on my experiences, i wouldn't recommend paeds, that said, the consultant was lovely there. my hospital were really good, they organised a 2 week placement where i rotated around lots of departments for a day or half a day each. i really enjoyed being on the stroke unit personally. orthopaedic surgery was also quite a sight.

Reply 15

Cataclysm

2

Well most of the time our college does placements in Haematology or sometimes Paeds. I organised my own one and am doing it in Vascular Surgery (specialists in Neurology/Cardiothoracic) :proud:

(had to take a lot of no nos and crap! - took 3 months to organise, worth it though!) :p:

lgd, as long as you get Work Experience in a hospital that is good enough! It is very hard especially if you don't have contacts!

Reply 16

cowsgomoo

13

i went to stroke unit - got to see lots in a week, on ward rounds, moral issues of inserting PEG tube, consultant breaking bad news to relatives, meetings on patients....

Reply 17

7589200

18

Well...its all down to the variety. In a work experience placement you want exposure to a great number of different procedures and activities.

Cardiology has, in terms of investigations, the ECG, Echos, Treadmill and Holters. You also have a invasive procedures. For example, cathaterisations, angioplasties and angiograms, pacemaker installations etc. Seeing so many different things is a huge plus point.

This is of course, on top of the more mundane ward rounds and clinics offered by all departments. Also Cardiac Wards are usually much more interesting than others - as they often command the greatest number of SHOs and Junior Doctors on-call at the same time (or at least, where I was). Someone will always be there to take care of you. The number of bedside procedures are also greater in Cardiac Wards. (I find) eg. the number of bedside tracheostomies done.

And finally, the curative aspect is much more rapid and appreciable. For example, if you see a primary angioplasty (where a man or woman having a heart attack has his/her coronary arteries ballooned in front of you) you will really be quite taken back by it all. The precision of the doctor, under pressure and the recovery the patient makes after the procedure is over is quite amazing. It is definitely worth-while watching and is something you might even talk about on your personal statement.

Reply 18

arpeggio

12

Ah you lucky people getting work experience organised by your school! I've had to organise all mine myself :p:

If you want to have opportunities to talk to lots of doctors then A&E seems to be the place to be... I'm shadowing different doctors there this week and it's interesting to see what they do firsthand. It's sadly not remotely similar to what you see on Casualty, or as glamorous (the highlight of my day yesterday was watching a girl get all the pus removed from a huge boil on her hand!) but well worth it to see whether this is actually what you want to go into in the future.

Reply 19

lil groovy dude

OP

14

xemmajanex

Ah you lucky people getting work experience organised by your school! I've had to organise all mine myself :p:

If you want to have opportunities to talk to lots of doctors then A&E seems to be the place to be... I'm shadowing different doctors there this week and it's interesting to see what they do firsthand. It's sadly not remotely similar to what you see on Casualty, or as glamorous (the highlight of my day yesterday was watching a girl get all the pus removed from a huge boil on her hand!) but well worth it to see whether this is actually what you want to go into in the future.

awww

work experience ... what department?

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