Organising work experience in a hospital is difficult at the best of times, the compounding effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have sadly increased this difficulty. With the NHS beginning to recover, and strict infection control measures being slowly relaxed as it is safe to do so, hospital work experience is once again becoming a possibility!
This blog should serve as a practical guide to securing your own work experience.
What is Hospital Work Experience?
Hospital
When Should I Undertake Work Experience?
Year 12 is a great time to organise some work experience, this will give you time to complete it and reflect on it ready to write your personal statement/attend interviews.
Securing work experience can take time, you may receive several rejections before getting the all-important offer! Start planning a few months before you would like to attend.
How Can I Organise My Work Experience?
There are multiple avenues for organising work experience, some of our most successful routes are as follows:
Personal Contacts: if you happen to know a doctor or someone who can get you into a hospital, this is generally the most reliable way of securing work experience
School Teachers: your teachers will have likely guided students in the past through the application process, try asking the head of admissions at your school
Previous Successful Applicants: if you know a current medical student who went to school in your area, ask them to find out where they went! If you are not that close to them, ask teachers to put you in contact
Local Hospital Schemes: some hospitals have established work experience or volunteering schemes (this is how I organised my own experience), just look at the trust websites of hospitals in your area.
Hospital Staffing Departments or Consultants Secretaries: these are both excellent avenues to try if the hospital does not have a specific work experience program, or if there is a particular consultant you would like to shadow
Want to learn more about medical school work experience or the medical school application process in general?
We will be running an online work experience for all students interested in medicine for free. Please get in touch to express interest and join our waitlist!
Want something now? Check out our website! We will be posting biweekly blogs on all things medical school applications, including a full guide on securing and reflecting on your work experience!
For answers to specific queries, don't hesitate to get in touch with us!
For bespoke application tutoring services tailored to you, delivered by one of our expert team members, please contact us directly.