Don’t think I have enough medicine work experience!

I want to study medicine and am hoping to apply this October. However I don’t feel like I have enough work experience... I’m planning on doing a week in a care home soon, and a weekly dining companion volunteer (if I pass interview stage) at the hospital as well as a weekly patient care support volunteer at my local hospice. The weekly volunteering will start end of August/September. Would this be enough for my application?

Reply 1

Examsareoversoon

13

Tbh it's not about quantity, it's about how you reflect on what experience you have. You need to say what you learnt from it, why it made you want to pursue medicine etc. If you reflect well on what experience you've got, you should be fine. You are doing volunteering which is great, universities actually prefer this over shadowing doctors or similar. You are getting lots of different volunteering experiences, so you should have more than enough to talk about in your personal statement/interviews. I got four interviews and three offers and I don't really think I had anymore than you, although I have been doing the volunteering at the same place for three years.

Reply 2

Subrinaak

OP

8

Original post by Examsareoversoon

Tbh it's not about quantity, it's about how you reflect on what experience you have. You need to say what you learnt from it, why it made you want to pursue medicine etc. If you reflect well on what experience you've got, you should be fine. You are doing volunteering which is great, universities actually prefer this over shadowing doctors or similar. You are getting lots of different volunteering experiences, so you should have more than enough to talk about in your personal statement/interviews. I got four interviews and three offers and I don't really think I had anymore than you, although I have been doing the volunteering at the same place for three years.

Thank you so much! This eased my worries a lot, I was just worried considering some people I know have done so much :smile:

Which unis did you get offers from if you don’t mind me asking?

Reply 3

YellowYellow2

16

I had 2 DAYS of hospital experience and still managed to get 3 offers so it really is about the quality. I also did around 10 months of volunteering at a local charity before applying

Reply 4

withered.rose

15

Original post by Examsareoversoon

Tbh it's not about quantity, it's about how you reflect on what experience you have. You need to say what you learnt from it, why it made you want to pursue medicine etc. If you reflect well on what experience you've got, you should be fine. You are doing volunteering which is great, universities actually prefer this over shadowing doctors or similar. You are getting lots of different volunteering experiences, so you should have more than enough to talk about in your personal statement/interviews. I got four interviews and three offers and I don't really think I had anymore than you, although I have been doing the volunteering at the same place for three years.

It’s about the quality of your experience, I find that at the end of each day (if that’s suitable for u and ur schedule) it may help to write down about your experience and maybe anything you learnt or valuable experience you got from it to allow you to have a concise and accessible way to remember and make best use out of your work experience, this may help when choosing what to speak about in interviews for university or employment

Reply 5

Examsareoversoon

13

Original post by Subrinaak

Thank you so much! This eased my worries a lot, I was just worried considering some people I know have done so much :smile:

Which unis did you get offers from if you don’t mind me asking?

I don't mind, Cambridge, Nottingham and Birmingham, rejected from Newcastle after interview. Don't worry about other applicants, sometimes the 'perfect' applicants are the ones that don't actually get the offers. The other poster's advice about keeping records of your experiences is excellent, I really wish I did this. Pm me if you want to ask me anything medicine related, or post on here. Don't know how much help I'll be though.

Reply 6

orangeee22

10

Just a tip- universities often care far more about volunteering rather than experience in a hospital. Hospital experience is difficult to arrange and happens often through family contacts. It often reflects more on the candidate's background rather than commitment to medicine; everyone knows how hard it is to find experience in medical practice. Volunteering in care homes, etc shows that you are willing to put the time in and see the less 'fun' side to medicine

Reply 7

Oxford Mum

21

Care home is very valuable experience as you have time to speak to the residents and improve your listening skills. Has any of the residents shown you a special insight. What have you learnt from the staff at the home?

My son got his epq idea from his favourite resident and he reckoned this helped secure him his place

Your experience so far is absolutely fine

Don’t think I have enough medicine work experience!

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you