Medicine work experience!help

12

Hey guys, im a year 12 who wants to do medicine , specifically dermatology ? BUT is struggling to find irl work experience as an immigrant with no medicine connections . I live in Essex but can travel to central london and east london . I can do online but I also want to do in person as I learn through interaction and I want to know if i like the med environment . Thank you !

Reply 1

TSR Hippocrates

11

Hey there, thanks for posting a question in the Medicine forum. :biggrin:

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Reply 2

stilllearning123

16

Original post

by futuredrlawyer

Hey guys, im a year 12 who wants to do medicine , specifically dermatology ? BUT is struggling to find irl work experience as an immigrant with no medicine connections . I live in Essex but can travel to central london and east london . I can do online but I also want to do in person as I learn through interaction and I want to know if i like the med environment . Thank you !

You don't need to worry about specifics as of now.

I would start by emailing local gps and hospitals, asking them for availability in work experience. There is usually an NHS work experience website for your specific area that you should look on to get the email addresses.

Remember it is not about how much work experience you get, it's about how you reflect on it in your personal statement/interview. I know people who have had just 1 day of work experience who have gotten in, even people without any work experience due to covid etc.

Best of luck!

Reply 3

Octrich

4

In terms of medicine work experience it takes bit of peseverance! Try your local GP surgeries, care homes & your local NHS trust - there are sometimes contacts on there for you to email. We did have higher success rates when my DD turned 17 - so she did her work experience in the summer as she sat her UCAT / was drafting her personal statement.

Also - it doesn't matter if you don't have medical work experience - it's about showing team work, communication skills, so you may be able to use things like a weekend job / student leadership activities as well. Most important is how you reflect on what you saw / learn.

Reply 4

Darcey08374

12

Original post

by futuredrlawyer

Hey guys, im a year 12 who wants to do medicine , specifically dermatology ? BUT is struggling to find irl work experience as an immigrant with no medicine connections . I live in Essex but can travel to central london and east london . I can do online but I also want to do in person as I learn through interaction and I want to know if i like the med environment . Thank you !

I recommend looking at the widening participation programmes and summer schools (eg Sutton trust) as some of these offer ‘work experience’ within them for example. I’m not sure distance wise how this works but I know kings, Birmingham, Bristol, ucl, manchester, imperial (pretty much every med school) offer these programmes/summer schools. If not then just really email everyone you know- physios/pharmacys/nursing homes/mental health units. I’m not from Essex way but I know where I’m from the private hospitals offered work experience but most people didn’t realise this therefore wasn’t very competitive to get a spot on so I recommend looking at this area as well. Also local trus may offer volunteering- this is something I did which shows you the medical environment, gives you lots to reflect on but also shows commitment and communication skills which you can talk about in your interviews.

Reply 5

user5553399

6

Original post

by futuredrlawyer

Hey guys, im a year 12 who wants to do medicine , specifically dermatology ? BUT is struggling to find irl work experience as an immigrant with no medicine connections . I live in Essex but can travel to central london and east london . I can do online but I also want to do in person as I learn through interaction and I want to know if i like the med environment . Thank you !

hi i know this isn’t very helpful, but i didn’t get any in person work experience, i volunteered at a care home for a while and did a lot of free online programmes. i’ve had 4 interviews and 1 offer (haven’t heard back from the other 3 yet). it would help to find in person work experience don’t get me wrong but it’s definitely not absolutely essential! i had the exact same issue as you in that i have no connections to med and everywhere i applied to wouldn’t let me because i was under 18, but as long as you have experiences to reflect on you should be okay :smile:

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