Work experience/voluntary work...again!!!:)

lovely_girl

Well, i've only done 3 weeks of work experience...one week in oncology, one in orthopaedics and one in ophthalmology(and a day in obstretrics...got to see a birth...yay!)...everyone's telling me that it's enough and i shouldn't do any more...i dunno, i think i should...??? Also, would it be a good idea to do some w/e in a GP's surgery? I want to, but everyone keeps telling me it's a bad idea, cause i wont get to see anything, cause of patient confidentiality(but i got to see stuff at hospitals!!!...why is that different?) and all i'll get to do is sit at reception? :frown:

umm also, would it be a good idea to do some nursing training for a week, cause my friend is doing that(she wants to do medicine and thinks it will be useful)??? And what exactly is auxillary nursing-should i do that?
umm would it be a better idea to do some volunteering work in a hospice or a hospital, but on the oncology ward??? I need to decide between the two! And i cant... :frown:

One last question! lol....umm, is it helpful for prospective medics to work in a charity shop like Oxfam??? I wanna do that... :smile:

Do unis like that, eventhough it's not related to medicine?
And...im not quite sure what i can do to show that i have good teamwork and communication skills...any ideas?
sorry...i have loooads of questions, lol :redface:

As a graduate, you need to be doing sustained volunteering, not just work experience. Look into your local hospice or old folks home, as such organisations are usually crying out for vols...

Reply 2

D'Oh! Sprry, confusing you with Loveland. As a school leaver, what you have done is fine.

The more the better, but you at least have some!

Reply 3

OP

so should i do some volunteering...? And what exactly does "volunteering" in a hospital(Ward, i think...) involve? What do you do?
And what do you think about working in hospices and charity shops...is that useful?
Initially, i was given an official one week work experience placement in orthopaedics with one of the consultants...well, after one week i asked the doctor i was with if he can find me work exp. in other specialities, and he said yes...so i did a week in oncology and a week in ophthalmology with some other doctors...until......people from human resources/training+development or whatever called my parents and starting shouting that what Im doing is illegal, I'm not insured...etc :eek:

I was in soooo much trouble(well hey, security were searching for me all over the place...it's like im some sort of criminal!) for staying at that hospital for more than a week... :eek:

And apparently, there's a NHS Trust policy that you're not allowed to do work experience in the same hospital for more than a week?!?!?! What?!....I thought that the worst that can happen is that i won't be able to do work experience next week...or this summer, so I'll just do it next year...but that's not allowed... :frown:

I have to find another doctor at another hospital :eek:

But i looooove the hospital I was previously at...and I looove the doctors there :frown:

oh well...<sighs>! They even took away my badge(they neeever do that...all of my friends who did work experience at that hospital have their badges) :eek:

...they just made me feel soooo bad...taking away my badge, security searching for me, shouting at my parents, telling to me drop everything and see them, coz it's an -emergency-!!!...Aaaand, this is all with the consultants' permission...it's not like i just went off on my own...the consultant said im allowed...how was i supposed to know?!?!?! :frown:

<sighs>
Aaaalso, if you do work experience at a GP's surgery, do you get to actually see the patients?! Or do you just sit at the reception desk... :eek:

? Is it a better idea to do w/e in surgeries that aren't my area???

Reply 4

lovely_girl

so should i do some volunteering...? And what exactly does "volunteering" in a hospital(Ward, i think...) involve? What do you do?
And what do you think about working in hospices and charity shops...is that useful?
Initially, i was given an official one week work experience placement in orthopaedics with one of the consultants...well, after one week i asked the doctor i was with if he can find me work exp. in other specialities, and he said yes...so i did a week in oncology and a week in ophthalmology with some other doctors...until......people from human resources/training+development or whatever called my parents and starting shouting that what Im doing is illegal, I'm not insured...etc :eek:

I was in soooo much trouble(well hey, security were searching for me all over the place...it's like im some sort of criminal!) for staying at that hospital for more than a week... :eek:

And apparently, there's a NHS Trust policy that you're not allowed to do work experience in the same hospital for more than a week?!?!?! What?!....I thought that the worst that can happen is that i won't be able to do work experience next week...or this summer, so I'll just do it next year...but that's not allowed... :frown:

I have to find another doctor at another hospital :eek:

But i looooove the hospital I was previously at...and I looove the doctors there :frown:

oh well...<sighs>! They even took away my badge(they neeever do that...all of my friends who did work experience at that hospital have their badges) :eek:

...they just made me feel soooo bad...taking away my badge, security searching for me, shouting at my parents, telling to me drop everything and see them, coz it's an -emergency-!!!...Aaaand, this is all with the consultants' permission...it's not like i just went off on my own...the consultant said im allowed...how was i supposed to know?!?!?! :frown:

<sighs>
Aaaalso, if you do work experience at a GP's surgery, do you get to actually see the patients?! Or do you just sit at the reception desk... :eek:

? Is it a better idea to do w/e in surgeries that aren't my area???

I volunteered on a hospice ward for 10 months, leaving when we moved to London. On average I did 1-2 evenings or days a week, working 4-5 hours at a time. It involved all sorts of stuff to helping the care assistants when they were rushed off their feet, taking meal orders from the patients, talking to the patients, and in one sad case, a patient who was close to death asked if I would sit with her and read until she had passed. That was quite hard.

The hospice I volunteered at had a full training programme for volunteers too, so 2 times a year they ran 6 week courses (3 hours a week), looking at different aspect of palliative care, from the spiritual needs of patients, to caring for their physical needs, through to lectures on drugs and common side effects. Really really inspirational stuff.

you might have difficulty setting up a GP experience. The Golden rules I guess are:
1) Don't go to your own surgery (for obvious reasons!)
2) target 'teaching surgeries' as patients will have been made aware when they registered that students may sit in on consultations. Makes it easier for them to take on a work experience peep...

Reply 5

Fluffy

you might have difficulty setting up a GP experience. The Golden rules I guess are:
1) Don't go to your own surgery (for obvious reasons!)
2) target 'teaching surgeries' as patients will have been made aware when they registered that students may sit in on consultations. Makes it easier for them to take on a work experience peep...

Hmmm...I did 2 weeks in my own surgery. There is only one in the town though, so I guess if there were more I might have gone elsewhere. Yes, I did see a lot of people I knew in there, but obviously due to confidentiality, I couldn't say to anyone else that I'd seen them at the doctors.

Lovely girl, I wouldn't dismiss it as "just reception work" - that's basically what I spent mine doing, and I loved it! The medical profession does not just require doctors to run, the receptionists there do an amazing job and get a lot of abuse when it's not their fault. It would be good to get an insight into what goes on "behind the scenes." It's unlikely you'll have as much patient contact; all I was allowed to see were child health clinics and vaccination clinics, not real appointments, but I still loved it.

As for the rest of your work experience, I think you've done plenty. It's long term volunteering you should look at now. I still think that Guides or similar is a great thing to do; it's not directly medical, but it's really useful and has the twofold effect of a)showing that you do constructive things with your time and enjoy working with people and b) showing that you are capable of doing things not purely just to get into med school.

Reply 6

OP

erm...what exactly is "Guides"? I haven't heard of it... :redface:

Reply 7

lovely_girl

erm...what exactly is "Guides"? I haven't heard of it... :redface:

Girl Guides I'm guessing - birds version of scouts.

Reply 8

shiny

12

Can I get experience?

Reply 9

shiny

Can I get experience?

Pervert!

Reply 10

shiny

12

Fluffy

Pervert!

You know you are the only one for me dear :wink:

Reply 11

lovely_girl

erm...what exactly is "Guides"? I haven't heard of it... :redface:

You know, Girl Guides? As in, with Brownies and Rainbows and stuff? You must have heard of them! This should tell you some more. I've been involved since I was 10.

Shiny! Behave!

Reply 12

Helenia

You know, Girl Guides? As in, with Brownies and Rainbows and stuff? You must have heard of them! This should tell you some more. I've been involved since I was 10.

Shiny! Behave!

I used to Guide, until I realised you had more fun inthe Ventures :tongue:

Reply 13

Fluffy

I used to Guide, until I realised you had more fun inthe Ventures :tongue:

Ventures = spotty hormonal 16 year olds. Great when you're 14, not so now. My Rangers are great.

Reply 14

Helenia

Ventures = spotty hormonal 16 year olds. Great when you're 14, not so now. My Rangers are great.

Most of our lor were 17/18 (as was I at the time!) We only had one rule - you weren't allowed to get drunk before 9pm and no vommiting before 10 (reduced to 8 and 9 whilst on camp) :smile:

Reply 15

Fluffy

Most of our lor were 17/18 (as was I at the time!) We only had one rule - you weren't allowed to get drunk before 9pm and no vommiting before 10 (reduced to 8 and 9 whilst on camp) :smile:

Hehe, sounds more fun than the local lot. The uni scout and guide club is fun though :biggrin:

Reply 16

OP

I spoke to a doctor yesterday, and he told me that he can get me w/e in a GP's surgery, but it's quite far away! It'll take me at least an hour by train to get there...is it worth it? Should I try to find something else, or take this opportunity???hmmm
Also, i dunno which one to choose: volunteering in a hospice or volunteering on the oncology ward in a hospital? Which would you choose???
And...how is Guides related to medicine? Just good as an extra-curricular activity???

Reply 17

lovely_girl

I spoke to a doctor yesterday, and he told me that he can get me w/e in a GP's surgery, but it's quite far away! It'll take me at least an hour by train to get there...is it worth it? Should I try to find something else, or take this opportunity???hmmm

If you want to, then yes. It doesn't sound very practical though.

Also, i dunno which one to choose: volunteering in a hospice or volunteering on the oncology ward in a hospital? Which would you choose???

The one you enjoy more, duh. The way you talk about it all makes it very much sound that you're only doing whichever is "best for getting into Medicine," and I'm worried that admissions tutors will see it the same way.

And...how is Guides related to medicine? Just good as an extra-curricular activity?

It's not, directly, and that's my point. It's voluntary, it's helpful for the community and good at building up your skills with people! And it's fun, and you get more from it than just Brownie points for getting into Medicine (no pun intended :tongue:

).

Reply 18