Summer holiday work experience for early year med students?

Hi everyone, I will be starting med school in Europe very soon, but would like to come back home to the UK and gain some work experience in the NHS during the summer holidays next year. Would anyone be able to recommend some good resources or ways to best approach this?

Is it just a matter of applying through websites, such as https://www.jobs.nhs.uk/ or https://www.nhsprofessionals.nhs.uk/, or are there other avenues I could explore?

Thank you!

Reply 1

MedicalMuffins

Original post by sanru

Hi,

I’m no expert in this area as I’m studying in the UK so there may be a more informed person floating but I’ve seen not seen any replies.

Why would you want work experience in the NHS during your degree? I don’t mean it in a snarky way, more like what would you like to gain from it?

There’s also the option of shadowing, I think shadowing is predominately for students applying rather than offer holders but I could be wrong.

If you want to come back and work postgrad you could do an elective period or shadowing in your final year of study. Then you just apply through the trusts’ process.

You could have a job as a HCA over the summer to get experience in the NHS. It’ll also enhance your skills, your patient interaction and it’s a great way to earn money too.

Reply 2

asif007

It’s not necessary for you to spend every summer during your medical degree doing work experience. Medicine is hard wherever you go and you should use your holiday time to relax or more importantly, work a normal job to earn some money. NHS experience will obviously be valuable to you but it will be unpaid and a lot less supported than UK medical students are.

I suggest you wait until you’ve finished 3rd or even 4th year before you consider doing unpaid internships in the NHS. You won’t get much out of doing them during your pre-clinical years. If you do them during clinical you can focus on things that are expected of UK medical students but which you might not be taught in Europe. I agree with above, HCA jobs are a good option for you to practise your skills and get paid at the same time. Much better than shadowing or doing an internship.