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Medicine work experience

So basically I am doing observe GP and I have work experience in teaching Arabic in a school and working in a food Bank. So I wanted to ask, how do I use this in my PS and in the interviews (if I get one looool) ? I'm kinda dumb when it comes to this stuff, I need some to help me join the dots up if that makes sense 😆.
If you don’t know, do you really feel you actually got anything from the experience? Doesn’t sound like you’ve really reflected on the experiences and what you’ve learned from doing them, which can happen if you’re treating the business of work experience and volunteering as something you need to collect and stack up.

You can’t teach without learning something about responsibility and patience and you don’t volunteer in a food bank without learning or wanting to learn something about the socioeconomics of health and well-being and what the importance of compassion is. Maybe you also learned some practical skills too. And if you didn’t learn it then, maybe try learning it now.

No one should be giving you these answers. And I’m not. Having something to say about these issues rather than saying “I learned the importance of such and such” is the prize you should come away with from doing these things. (This is the phrase I scratch off pretty much every personal statement I’ve ever advised on for healthcare or similar, just to be warned.)

Just doing these things doesn’t qualify you for entry to medical school. Two people could do the same things and come away with very different experiences to talk about, which may or may not be equally relevant to an application for medicine). Some people could do the bare minimum and come away with the right things to say and someone could do a thousand hours in twenty different areas and not be able to come up with anything relevant to say because they weren’t thinking about the bigger picture.

Think of the skills, responsibilities, qualities and attributes of a doctor. What about these experiences convinced you that you think you could handle or wanted to handle these responsibilities? What did you realise you have left to learn? Do you think, based on these experiences, that you can cope with them? Do you think you have really demonstrated the core qualities and attributes of a junior doctor? Do you think you’ve got anything left to learn?

I will give you one piece of key advice: it’s okay for the answer to some of those questions to be no. If you can identify what you have left to learn and find a way to go and get it, do: read, volunteer elsewhere, take up some responsibility in your school. Show that you’re someone who acts, reflects, and acts on the reflection - it’s called reflective practice - absolutely key aspect of any healthcare professional. Show on your PS that this you’re a work in constant progress, don’t try to convince people you’re the finished package. This is key preparation for your interview, if you get one (largely determined by UCAT these days but the PS can still play its part in getting them at some medical schools).
(edited 2 years ago)
Original post by Turning_A_Corner
If you don’t know, do you really feel you actually got anything from the experience? Doesn’t sound like you’ve really reflected on the experiences and what you’ve learned from doing them, which can happen if you’re treating the business of work experience and volunteering as something you need to collect and stack up.

You can’t teach without learning something about responsibility and patience and you don’t volunteer in a food bank without learning or wanting to learn something about the socioeconomics of health and well-being and what the importance of compassion is. Maybe you also learned some practical skills too. And if you didn’t learn it then, maybe try learning it now.

No one should be giving you these answers. And I’m not. Having something to say about these issues rather than saying “I learned the importance of such and such” is the prize you should come away with from doing these things. (This is the phrase I scratch off pretty much every personal statement I’ve ever advised on for healthcare or similar, just to be warned.)

Just doing these things doesn’t qualify you for entry to medical school. Two people could do the same things and come away with very different experiences to talk about, which may or may not be equally relevant to an application for medicine). Some people could do the bare minimum and come away with the right things to say and someone could do a thousand hours in twenty different areas and not be able to come up with anything relevant to say because they weren’t thinking about the bigger picture.

Think of the skills, responsibilities, qualities and attributes of a doctor. What about these experiences convinced you that you think you could handle or wanted to handle these responsibilities? What did you realise you have left to learn? Do you think, based on these experiences, that you can cope with them? Do you think you have really demonstrated the core qualities and attributes of a junior doctor? Do you think you’ve got anything left to learn?

I will give you one piece of key advice: it’s okay for the answer to some of those questions to be no. If you can identify what you have left to learn and find a way to go and get it, do: read, volunteer elsewhere, take up some responsibility in your school. Show that you’re someone who acts, reflects, and acts on the reflection - it’s called reflective practice - absolutely key aspect of any healthcare professional. Show on your PS that this you’re a work in constant progress, don’t try to convince people you’re the finished package. This is key preparation for your interview, if you get one (largely determined by UCAT these days but the PS can still play its part in getting them at some medical schools).

Thanks bro this was really helpful
Original post by musab_101
Thanks bro this was really helpful

So, I should be showing that I'm still learning and still engaged in volunteering and getting a better understanding of the health sector?
Volunteering and WEx thread here where this is often discussed https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6929328 :smile:

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