The Student Room Group

Gap year jobs med

Hey! So i missed the grades and found a course on UCLAN but was told my grades are too high for that course 🥰so now I have nothing!!

Im thinking of taking a gap year and resitting i’ll have to fund myself and i’m broke so does anybody know how I can find a good job for my gap year that’s also perhaps in the healthcare industry or chemistry related so I can also conclude whether I want to do medicine or not!

I’m from burnley erm I can travel to manchester and anywhere thats the same distance !!
Original post by Idk5677
Hey! So i missed the grades and found a course on UCLAN but was told my grades are too high for that course 🥰so now I have nothing!!

Im thinking of taking a gap year and resitting i’ll have to fund myself and i’m broke so does anybody know how I can find a good job for my gap year that’s also perhaps in the healthcare industry or chemistry related so I can also conclude whether I want to do medicine or not!

I’m from burnley erm I can travel to manchester and anywhere thats the same distance !!


Hey there, sorry for the lack of replies you've had so far.

It used to be really easy to find starters jobs on the NHS as healthcare assistant, but I've been noticing a trend recently that this isn't as easy as it used to be. Still worth a look though, or failing that, anything within a healthcare environment will be interesting - even if it is something like a GP receptionist. Another alternatives is the care sector. They are desperate for people. You work as a care assistant in care homes or going to the elderly people's own houses to take care of them. I wouldn't recommend it to anybody unless you wanted to do medicine. It's bad conditions and pay but excellent experience.
Original post by Idk5677
Hey! So i missed the grades and found a course on UCLAN but was told my grades are too high for that course 🥰so now I have nothing!!
Im thinking of taking a gap year and resitting i’ll have to fund myself and i’m broke so does anybody know how I can find a good job for my gap year that’s also perhaps in the healthcare industry or chemistry related so I can also conclude whether I want to do medicine or not!
I’m from burnley erm I can travel to manchester and anywhere thats the same distance !!

I would really recommend a healthcare assistant job in a hospital! I started straight out of school in my gap year in an acute medical unit, it was a great experience and I loved it. It was tough but I learned how to talk to patients, how hospital care works in general, discussed some very interesting cases with the nurses and doctors (when they had a spare moment!) and obviously clinical skills too like doing ECGs, taking blood etc. After a while I started picking up bank shifts elsewhere (still do in the holidays) to get experience elsewhere: on the wards, cancer care outpatients, community hospital, A+E, all over really. I'm now finding being on clinical placements at med school much easier than some of my peers as a result. Hope this helps, if you have any questions about it I'm happy to try and answer them!
Reply 3
Original post by bea_murray0
I would really recommend a healthcare assistant job in a hospital! I started straight out of school in my gap year in an acute medical unit, it was a great experience and I loved it. It was tough but I learned how to talk to patients, how hospital care works in general, discussed some very interesting cases with the nurses and doctors (when they had a spare moment!) and obviously clinical skills too like doing ECGs, taking blood etc. After a while I started picking up bank shifts elsewhere (still do in the holidays) to get experience elsewhere: on the wards, cancer care outpatients, community hospital, A+E, all over really. I'm now finding being on clinical placements at med school much easier than some of my peers as a result. Hope this helps, if you have any questions about it I'm happy to try and answer them!


Hey!! I decided not to do a gap year as i had nothing prepared 😭instead im reapplying AND doinf a transfer scheme into med, but i’d like to do a few bank shifts whenever I can to gain experience, how do I apply as a bank staff? Or is that not a thinng
Reply 4
Original post by Scotland Yard
Hey there, sorry for the lack of replies you've had so far.
It used to be really easy to find starters jobs on the NHS as healthcare assistant, but I've been noticing a trend recently that this isn't as easy as it used to be. Still worth a look though, or failing that, anything within a healthcare environment will be interesting - even if it is something like a GP receptionist. Another alternatives is the care sector. They are desperate for people. You work as a care assistant in care homes or going to the elderly people's own houses to take care of them. I wouldn't recommend it to anybody unless you wanted to do medicine. It's bad conditions and pay but excellent experience.


Thank you so much for your reply
Original post by Idk5677
Hey!! I decided not to do a gap year as i had nothing prepared 😭instead im reapplying AND doinf a transfer scheme into med, but i’d like to do a few bank shifts whenever I can to gain experience, how do I apply as a bank staff? Or is that not a thinng

Without healthcare experience it might be hard to find bank jobs - I find they're not keen to invest in all the onboarding and training if you're not very available, especially if they're training you from scratch. You might have better luck in private homecare agencies as NHSP (the NHS's own staff bank) require 6 months of experience.
Reply 6
I’d also shout GP receptionist, always recruiting, I spent a gap year working in a GP and it’s incredibly enlightening in how primary care works, and you’ll be playing a massive role in helping coordinate and triage patient needs, pay is good too :wink: you’ll get good exposure of the GP life and they’ll even let you shadow them (depending on the doctor, of course)

But if that’s not to your taste, you can probably enrol in a phlebotomy training course and sign up for HCA roles too.
(edited 2 weeks ago)
Reply 7
Original post by bea_murray0
Without healthcare experience it might be hard to find bank jobs - I find they're not keen to invest in all the onboarding and training if you're not very available, especially if they're training you from scratch. You might have better luck in private homecare agencies as NHSP (the NHS's own staff bank) require 6 months of experience.


Hey guys thank you so much for this !! But ive alr enrolled in uni now and im reapplying for med/other courses simultaneously this month erm I did get a job offer at a gp clinic but had to decline it bc it’s too late now :frown: but thank you so much xx
Reply 8
Original post by zoya.xg
I’d also shout GP receptionist, always recruiting, I spent a gap year working in a GP and it’s incredibly enlightening in how primary care works, and you’ll be playing a massive role in helping coordinate and triage patient needs, pay is good too :wink: you’ll get good exposure of the GP life and they’ll even let you shadow them (depending on the doctor, of course)
But if that’s not to your taste, you can probably enrol in a phlebotomy training course and sign up for HCA roles too.


Was meant to reply to your message with the one above! Once again thank you

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