calling physiotherapy/healthcare students for help!!!

(Ignore my user, cant change ittt)
So I'm having an absolute nightmare trying to get some sort of work experience/shadowing. Tried to volunteer in a carehome and shadow a physio and got told I need PVG checks. Can I not just pay for the pvg check and be able to do this work experience? I'm so confused because the admissions people for the unis I wan't to apply for all recommended this? Has anyone had any luck getting work experience for healthcare professions?

Have you contacted your local hospitals for shadowing experience? Just ask for a day of shadowing as that is all that is required and hospitals are more likely to agree to this than a longer period of work experience. You shouldn't need a PVG check for this as you will be with a professional the whole time. Your work/volunteering experience can be anything public facing - charity shop, restaurant/cafe work, retail, etc. It doesn't have to be in a care setting.

Hey, I’m lucky that I work within the physio dept of the hospital so organising shadowing was much simpler for me but we often get people coming in to shadow for work experience! If you contact your local hospital and say you’d like some work experience within physio rather than shadowing it may be easier to organise as they have more organised specific processes

(Ignore my user, cant change ittt)
So I'm having an absolute nightmare trying to get some sort of work experience/shadowing. Tried to volunteer in a carehome and shadow a physio and got told I need PVG checks. Can I not just pay for the pvg check and be able to do this work experience? I'm so confused because the admissions people for the unis I wan't to apply for all recommended this? Has anyone had any luck getting work experience for healthcare professions?

Hey there,
My name is Siobhan and I'm a third year physiotherapy student at UCLan. You aren't the only one going through this right now so don't worry too much! I help out with the university interview days and can tell you now that direct experience isn't the only thing we look at when considering you, it's all about the transferable skills.
When I applied for the course, I had very little experience in physiotherapy. My only experience was being a physio patient, but I had other clinical experience from working in a pharmacy and doing medical experience days in high school. I used these examples to demonstrate my skills such as communication, team working and problem solving and then related it to the role of a physiotherapist which was the key thing. If you can get volunteering experience in the hospice or charity shop, then use that experience to show off all that you learnt, and then relate it back to the career in mind.
I would recommend using the STAR format when doing this as it is a clear way to demonstrate your learning process and set of skills.
I would also say that if you can demonstrate your enthusiasm and understanding of the role then that will boost you up in the selection process. You could say something like 'I understand that physios can work in these areas and so I applied for experience days to gain insight'. If you explain how you have eagerly exposed yourself to opportunities and worked hard to try and get them then this can impress the board.
Don't put too much pressure on yourself when doing this though and be yourself in your application!!
Hope this helps and please let me know if I can help in any other way. 🙂
Siobhan (UCLan Student Ambassador)