How to get medicine work experience
Medical work experience is still a critical part of an application to medical school. Medical schools are aware that we are currently in the COVID-19 pandemic and traditional medical work experience opportunities have been severely limited. However many will still request that you have a period of relevant work experience so that you have an insight into what it is like working as a doctor. This requires you to be innovative into avenues that you can explore to demonstrate some of the qualities of a doctor.
Many students will be thinking that ‘COVID-19 has stopped any medical work experience and this will mean that their application to medical school is at a significant disadvantage’. Whilst the traditional work experience on a hospital ward or shadowing a GP in a general practice clinic may no longer be available, there are some new experiences that have arisen because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
👉 Traditionally, your school may be able to help you find relevant work experience as they may have a database of employers that provide this in the field of medicine. However it is likely that there is only one placement her employer and this will require you to show some initiative and try and organise a placement yourself.
📚 Utilise any contacts that you have, for example if your parents or friends work in a healthcare environment, see if they can make some enquiries on your behalf. You may find that some organisations only offer work experience placements to relatives of employees that already work for them.
⚠️ Work experience in an NHS setting may also require you to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 so make sure you have undertaken this before you start any placement.
Work Experience in Hospitals
Whilst it is highly unlikely that there will be any opportunities for work experience where clinical care of patients is being undertaken face-to-face, there may be opportunities for you to undertake work experience in the administrative roles of the hospital. Examples of this could be medical secretaries and the medical records departments. You may also be able to get work experience in a hospital laboratory setting, especially if it is involved in processing COVID-19 samples.
⚠️ However you may find that NHS hospitals are simply not permitting any non-essential individuals to enter the hospital premises. Also bear in mind that you are applying to medical school and therefore need to be exposed to elements of healthcare that you can use as reflection in your application and medical school interview. Therefore I would not advise that you do a work experience placement in hospital accounts for example.
Work Experience in GP practices
⚠️ You are unlikely to have any face-to-face clinical placements available in a GP surgery again because of the risks of transmission of COVID-19. However, general practice also has an administrative side and you may be able to get a placement with individuals that work with dealing with hospital correspondence for example, dealing with hospital referrals and perhaps even those that deal with the managerial side of the practice.
🏆 I am aware of students that have succeeded in getting placements in GP surgeries where they contact patients over the phone and ask them about smoking cessation or remind them that they are due a chronic disease check up. In this case you are not directly seeing patients face-to-face but you are communicating with them over the phone.
⚠️ Do not apply to your own GP practice and ideally not one in your own locality, as there may be issues with confidentiality relating to patients that you know personally. Sometimes the local NHS deanery has programs in place for sixth form students, so it may be worth checking with them.
Work Experience in Nursing and Care homes
There is possibly opportunity to work as a volunteer in a nursing home. Nursing homes tend to focus on the social and caring side of medicine which is just as important as the medical side. If you do work in a nursing home, it may be worth taking some notes on reflection on some of the medical issues that the patients are facing, for example for patients with dementia, how are they being treated?
Work Experience in COVID-19 vaccination and testing sites
⭐️ The UK has an extensive vaccination program to get the country vaccinated against COVID-19 with first doses, second doses and boosters at the time of writing. These are often undertaken in specialist hubs, hospital settings as well as community settings such as pharmacies. There is usual ample opportunity to volunteer with the vaccination programme, sometimes even in a paid role. Your duties might involve signing patients in onto the electronic computer system and directing them around the site. Again reflect on what you have seen and observed, especially if there are any patients that have any particular needs or challenges with vaccination.
Work Experience in an NHS Pharmacy
You may be able to get a voluntary placement in a pharmaceutical setting. Whilst all clinical work will still likely have to be undertaken by qualified professionals, you may be able to help with delivering medication to patients and the administrative side of running a pharmacy. You may also be able to help at reception interacting with patients. Some pharmacies offer extended services, such as travel vaccinations and COVID-19 testing on a private basis and there may be opportunities to observe these services.
Work Experience in Food banks
You may have the opportunity to volunteer at a local food bank. Unfortunately many people in our country will have lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic and this has resulted in an increase in the number of food banks.This will give you the opportunity to speak and interact with members of the public and improve your communication skills, show empathy as well as help with the logistical elements. You may be able to learn about deprivation and some of the social challenges that are facing the country because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Again, you need to reflect on what you have seen.
Work Experience in with Paramedic Services
It may be possible for you to get a work experience placement with your local NHS ambulance trust or perhaps a charitable organisation such as St John's ambulance. However please bear in mind that they tend to be focused on individuals that wish to pursue a career in paramedic science and they may prioritise such individuals over those that wish to study medicine.
Hazelvalley Family Practice GP Work Experience Placements
Although we cannot accommodate students in our own practice during the week, we have arranged a few weekend work experience placements where you can speak to patients, reflect on what you have seen, getting surgical and practical skills as well as tips on how to make an application to medical school.
We offer these placements in our own practice in Rossendale, Lancashire as well as offering innovative remote GP placements where we can bring our surgery equipment and patients to you in conference centres in Manchester or London, England. We also have opportunities where you can dial in and see the patients remotely using zoom or teams from anywhere in the world. Click the link below to learn more and check on availability.
Summary Advice for students on how to get a placement
Get in touch with GP practices. Remember you should not contact the practice where you are registered.
Contact practice managers and GPs to explain who you are and ask for their help in finding you a suitable placement. They may ask you to complete an application form and a health questionnaire.
Make the most of any contacts you have, such as relatives, neighbours or friends who work a healthcare setting or in a hospital. Some providers may only provide placements to relatives of current employees.
If you are still at school or college, speak to your career coordinator or teacher who may be able to help you with arranging placements.
If you can’t shadow a doctor, look at shadowing another healthcare professional like a nurse, pharmacist or physiotherapist.
