Hospital Work Experience
Hello,
I am starting a work experience placement in the anaesthesia department in a hospital, for a week
For anyone who has had experience, I was wondering what preparation should be done beforehand and what I can expect.
All advice about the placement in general would be greatly appreciated
I am starting a work experience placement in the anaesthesia department in a hospital, for a week
For anyone who has had experience, I was wondering what preparation should be done beforehand and what I can expect.
All advice about the placement in general would be greatly appreciated
Reply 1
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If your query is answered by one of the Megathreads or articles linked above, and you would like us to close this thread for you, please reply to this thread with just the words "thank you". A member of our team will then get it locked.
The Medicine forum gets a high volume of questions being posted, and some of these are already answered by the resources and Megathreads that members of the community and volunteers have created. This is an automatic post which is designed to highlight these resources. Below is a list of threads and articles that could answer your question (you should be looking in the original post of the megathreads). If one of the below threads is a more relevant place to ask your question, please post a reply in that thread to ask your question. If your query is answered by one of the Megathreads or articles linked below, and you would like us to close this thread for you, please reply to this thread with just the words "thank you". A member of our team will then get it locked.
Megathreads (Please read the first post before posting any further questions you have within that thread.)
The "Which Medical School Should I Apply To?" Uberthread
The Ultimate 'Am I Good Enough For Medicine?' Angst Thread
Medicine A-Level subjects queries
Work Experience and Voluntary Work
GANFYD's "Which medical schools accept retake A-Levels" list
2026 Applicants :
Official Thread: (Undergraduate) Medicine 2026 entry
Official Thread: Graduate Entry Medicine 2026 Entry
Medicine 2026 entry for resit/retake/gap year applicants
International Students for Medicine 2026 Entry (overseas students applying to the UK)
UCAT 2026 Entry Discussions Megathread
GAMSAT Megathread 2026/2027 entry
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2026 entry A100/ A101 Medicine fastest and slowest offer senders
Medical Schools Index 2026 entry
Medical Schools Index 2025 entry
UCAS Extra and Clearing:
Medicine UCAS Extra for 2025
Medicine UCAS Clearing for 2025
Other application years:
Official Thread: (Undergraduate) Medicine 2027 entry
Official Thread: Graduate Entry Medicine 2027 Entry
Official Thread: Graduate Entry Medicine 2028 Entry
Current Medical Students and Doctors:
Guidance on posting in this subforum
So, you're going to medical school.... MKII
OSCE Tips and Advice
Increase in the NHS Bursary and expenses for placement
The postgraduate exams thread
Useful Articles:
Work Experience as a Graduate or Mature student
Medicine Personal Statement Advice
Medicine Personal Statement Advice (Graduate Entry)
Interview Frequently Asked Questions
MMI Medicine Interview Tips
What to do after an unsuccessful first application
Funding medicine as a second degree
Our Community:
Medicine Community Feedback and Suggestions
Medicine Gap Year Stories
Project: Minimum UCAT Score Trends
If your query is answered by one of the Megathreads or articles linked above, and you would like us to close this thread for you, please reply to this thread with just the words "thank you". A member of our team will then get it locked.
Reply 2
Arrive early. Anaesthetics has a schedule and a list for the day and they don't like to run behind.
If you are going into theatre you will need to put on scrubs and probably have wipe clean shoes although they will probably have some you can borrow.
If you want to appear keen, ask about the considerations to think about before putting patients through anaesthesia, ask to see patients with the registrar or consultant for the pre-operative assessment. I would remain completely quiet and absolutely not touch anything whilst in theatre, but once the anaesthetist has put the patient under you can ask them which agents/medicines they are using and why, how they work and what are the side effects.
Then think about the experience of the patient. Were they calm, was everything explained to them fully, how did it go, did they suffer any nausea or unpleasant effects?
Write a dairy for every day you are in placement. Reflect on what you saw, learnt and the challenges involved but also again try to view it from the experience of the patient, this is what will be useful in interview later on.
If you have any other questions, ping me. A lot of us have contributed interview questions, start reading through those and building some background knowledge of content from the media, find an area of medical research that you find interesting and read a bit about it from time to time.
Hope this helps
E.
If you are going into theatre you will need to put on scrubs and probably have wipe clean shoes although they will probably have some you can borrow.
If you want to appear keen, ask about the considerations to think about before putting patients through anaesthesia, ask to see patients with the registrar or consultant for the pre-operative assessment. I would remain completely quiet and absolutely not touch anything whilst in theatre, but once the anaesthetist has put the patient under you can ask them which agents/medicines they are using and why, how they work and what are the side effects.
Then think about the experience of the patient. Were they calm, was everything explained to them fully, how did it go, did they suffer any nausea or unpleasant effects?
Write a dairy for every day you are in placement. Reflect on what you saw, learnt and the challenges involved but also again try to view it from the experience of the patient, this is what will be useful in interview later on.
If you have any other questions, ping me. A lot of us have contributed interview questions, start reading through those and building some background knowledge of content from the media, find an area of medical research that you find interesting and read a bit about it from time to time.
Hope this helps
E.
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