Article by the amazing @AgnosticHaruspex!
Overview
Arranging work experience as a graduate applicant is a little different to the experience a school leaver can expect. As a school leaver, places are more or less arranged for you but graduateapplicants are left to organise their own placements.
At first, this may seem daunting but it can be broken down into three simple steps:
1. Finding contacts in various disciplines by using word of mouth, web searches etc
2. Contacting the clinicians you’ve found by telephone or e-mail to find out if they can facilitate
shadowing experiences
3. Liaising with the relevant departments to organise the placement
General Practice Shadowing
For general practice shadowing you may have to contact quite a number of practices in order to secure a shadowing opportunity. This is because some surgeries have strict data protection laws that make some of them uneasy about allowing those with a non-medical background access to patients. This can be mitigated by enquiring at practices outside your local area (for example, contacting practices in Inverclyde when you live in Glasgow City) and coming across as professional when first contacting surgeries. A full list of NHSGGC practices with contact information can be found here for direct download http://tinyurl.com/9ky74chj (there should be similar resources for your local board on their respective websites).
Usually, you would address an e-mail to the practice manager as they are often senior administrative personnel who are responsible for overseeing the general day to day running of the practice. Be polite, courteous and professional at all times, using the correct salutation (Ms is safest when it comes to addressing female members of staff).
Hospital Shadowing
There are two main branches of hospital shadowing opportunities - medical & surgical. There are other specialities that fall out with these two broad categories but for simplicity it’s a good place to start when researching possible facilitators of shadowing opportunities. There is a huge repertoire of hospital specialities and a good list can be found here http://tinyurl.com/jvd67xm.
The easiest way to find points of contact is to search by department at your local hospital. The contact details of consultants and/or wards are generally available on their respective websites. Once identified, it’s recommended to e-mail/telephone both the consultant directly and their secretary as sometimes e-mails can be missed due to the sheer burden of work that the NHS is under. From this point, you may be forwarded on to secondary departments to complete documentation to organise the shadowing experience.
When applying to hospital positions, shadowing experiences are often regarded as much more formal experiences when compared to general practice shadowing experiences and you may find that you will be referred onto other departments for example the Learning & Education Team (if you are applying to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde - other boards may differ!) who will ask you to complete some forms detailing some basic information about the nature of the placement (how long it’s for, the duties associated with the placement, key contacts, outcomes etc). A fantastic document that details this process can be found on the Learning & Education page of the NHSGGC website (Direct download: https://tinyurl.com/46t2kdu8).
Again, a good first impression is paramount to success as it frames you as someone who is trustworthy & professional and as such you are much more likely to be offered a shadowing opportunity.
How to Balance Other Commitments
When I undertook work experience I was out of university for a couple of years and was working full time. Thankfully I had a good amount of annual leave accrued and so it was easy for me to take advantage of all the opportunities I was given. It is a big sacrifice to give up most of your holidays for the purposes of work experience but it shows resilience and dedication to the field which will put you in a good light at interview.
If you are in the situation where you either do not have enough annual leave to cover your work experience placements or you’re perhaps still working toward a qualification, there are other ways to make time for shadowing opportunities.
Some medical practitioners (even up to consultant level) will have semi-regular clinics that land on weekends and they may be quite happy to schedule some work experience during those. The advantage of this is that the wards can be somewhat less hectic and your placement facilitator can spend more time engaging with you on a 1 on 1 basis.
Alternatively, if you’re working towards a qualification currently, you could arrange work experience earlier in your degree program so that you free up your final year (which, as some of you may know, is often the busiest!) in order to be sure that you secure the grades required to meet or exceed the conditions of your offer.
Finally, organizing placements well in advance is critical to success as you will already be balancing other application related commitments (such as studying for the UCAT, researching your medical schools of choice, interview prep etc) in addition to work/study commitments.
A Quick Note on Dress Code
If you are successful at gaining a shadowing opportunity, it is important to conduct yourself appropriately at all times when on NHS premises (this is in order to keep the public view of the profession positive which allows the doctor-patient relationship to remain a strong one). This includes behaving in an acceptable manner and dressing appropriately.
With regards to clothing, you could pair a button-up shirt tucked into dress trousers or chinos with jetted pockets (flap pockets make your trousers resemble jeans which aren’t appropriate). This should be accompanied with comfortable dress shoes or boots, ideally with a non-slip sole. Due to infection control, neckties should not be worn and sleeves should be rolled up to just above the elbow.
Alternatively, you could pair blouses or other smart tops with knee-skirts or dress trousers. Smart dresses are another good choice. Smart, comfortable flat shoes are recommended. Again, neckties should be avoided and the same bare below the elbows policy applies.
Tips & Tricks
Make sure to have a relevant, up-to-date CV that you can send in .PDF format just in case you are asked for one.
Remember that there are other places than hospitals to gain shadowing experience. Alcohol and Drug Recovery Centres are an example of this and placements of this nature can be extremely insightful.
If you have family, friends or other contacts who are already in the medical profession, don’t feel like you are ‘cheating’ by asking for help - you should use any and all advantages you have in order to gain insight into what it’s really like to be a doctor.
Most importantly, talk to everyone you absolutely can. The professionals working around you (not just doctors but nurses and other roles on the multidisciplinary team) have an endless supply of knowledge and experience which you should absolutely take advantage of. Getting into the habit of talking to a wide variety of people with different skill sets and backgrounds will initiate the development of solid interpersonal skills which will be crucial to you as a medical student and throughout your entire career as a medical professional.
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