The road to becoming a doctor doesn’t start with medical school, and academic achievement alone does not determine your fitness for this career path.
Any university application benefits from having relevant job experience since it shows a sincere interest in the subject matter and a thorough comprehension of what it takes to thrive in the workplace. However, for medical aspirants, job experience is essential.
The greatest methods to get medicine work experience for studying medicine in the UK are covered in this article. Professional experience may come in many different forms, such as clinical internships or community outreach initiatives. This will strengthen your CV and personal statement and increase the likelihood that you will be invited to a medical school interview.
At StudyMind, we have a team of highly skilled medical admissions specialists that can assist you in submitting outstanding university applications. Our students consistently get admission to their top or second choice of colleges.
Alternatively, read our previous post on how to pursue a career in medicine if you would want the whole breakdown on what it takes to become a doctor in the UK. Alternatively, to increase your chances of success, get in contact with our staff of over 400 professional instructors for medical admissions!
Are you in the correct medicine?
A career in medicine may not be suited for you, so you need to carefully weigh your options. The study of medicine is a very difficult field that calls for a good background in biology, chemistry, and mathematics.
A career in medicine requires several years of devoted study and training, as well as hard hours and a great degree of responsibility. As a result, you should think about whether you are prepared to bear the difficulties and sacrifices that come with a career in medicine before you even start applying. Make sure you ask one of your instructors for their opinion on whether or not medicine is a good fit for you as well.
Possessing the appropriate job experience may help you navigate some of these difficult choices by providing insight into what it’s like to work in the healthcare sector. Whether you’re considering direct patient care, medical research, or roles in medical device testing, hands-on experience can be invaluable. In the end, deciding to become a doctor cannot be hurried! To make an educated choice regarding your future professional path, take the time to weigh your alternatives, acquire information, and seek advice as required.
Dedicated to becoming a doctor? Our knowledgeable admissions staff can assist you in creating a strong application for a prestigious undergraduate or graduate medical program.
Why not get in touch with one of our knowledgeable medical school tutors if you need assistance improving your grades while you are a medical student? Each of our tutors has a PhD, and at least two years of experience working as a tutor. Of them, 46 percent hold distinguished degrees. If you want to raise your grades in 2022 as much as 93% of our students did, get in touch with us immediately!
What kind of experience in the medical field should I get?
Volunteering as opposed to employment
Applications to medical schools benefit greatly from volunteer work for a number of reasons:
It entails doing volunteer work for the good of others; it shows a sincere commitment to helping others and contributes to the community; it fosters professional and personal development; and it frequently demonstrates empathy, compassion, and a desire to have a positive impact—all of which are necessary qualities for a good doctor.
Volunteering is often connected to charitable endeavors. If you’re like music, for example, the Alzheimer’s Society hosts the “Singing for the Brain” program at nearby community centers. This program brings dementia patients together to sing a variety of well-known songs in a happy and inviting setting. If you like singing and want to assist some of the neediest people in society, you may contribute to this.
In addition, the Alzheimer’s Society has a variety of volunteer opportunities that are well worth exploring. If you are comfortable approaching nursing homes or other healthcare organizations directly, you may be able to discover volunteer opportunities via them.
However, there is “work experience” as well. This usually refers to paid or unpaid internships that provide people the chance to see and participate in healthcare-related activities, such shadowing physicians, helping with patient care, or working in clinical or research environments.
Experience of this kind enables candidates to gain information and transferable skills that are pertinent to the medical industry and offers insight into the day-to-day reality of working in a medical practice.
Volunteering and employment experience both bolster applications to medical schools by showcasing candidates’ commitment to the medical sector, comprehension of healthcare, and interpersonal and communication abilities.
We advise participating in both to develop a diverse personal statement or resume since they provide contrasting viewpoints and ideas on the practice of medicine and the place of healthcare workers in society. Given the intense competition in the medical field, having a broad variety of noteworthy experience can help you differentiate yourself from the competition. Get assistance from our knowledgeable admissions staff to create the ideal application for medical school!
Insider tip: We work on personal statements in addition to CV perfection with our skilled staff of education counselors. To learn more about how we can assist you with your applications, watch our YouTube videos.
Is your college or institution able to help?
It won’t harm you to inquire about potential chances for related job experience, since your institution will want to give you every advantage to make you a more appealing applicant to UK medical schools.
Work placements are sometimes only made possible by your school speaking highly of you. Thus, in order to keep your reputation intact in school, you should strive for the highest grades possible, behave well, and participate in a variety of extracurricular activities.
Not only are your professors valuable references for your UCAS application, but they are also necessary for certain very competitive medical postings.
Tell your instructor early on that you would want to work in the healthcare profession; they should be pleased to assist you in any way possible. The strength of your recommendations will play a big role in your application.
For example, the University of Oxford’s Medical Summer School combines academic instruction in medicine with chances for hospital work and the development of clinical skills such as Basic Life Support (BLS) and suturing.
Our outstanding group of Oxbridge admissions tutors triples the average national Oxbridge acceptance rate! We are thrilled to have them on staff! Furthermore, 46% of our instructors have a PhD, and 95% of our tutors have a postgraduate degree. Use our professional services to make the most of your application if you’re applying to the Universities of Oxford or Cambridge.
Getting in touch with your general practitioner
Seeing a primary care physician in action is just as valuable to your application as hospital work since it demonstrates a high degree of compassion and involvement in community health. Engaging in work experience with your local general practitioner is a great method to showcase these abilities to medical schools.
Approach your local practice, make yourself known, and submit a CV or letter of application indicating your interest in order to be placed. Placements are often arranged by smaller organizations, provided that students are eager. You should still make plans, however, to prevent problems with oversubscription.
Working in a community environment and seeing a wide range of patients with different origins and clinical presentations is one benefit of working in primary care. Primary care is essential to the efficient functioning of the National Health Service (NHS) since it is the first point of contact for members of the public seeking healthcare services.
Insider tip: As a student participating in work experience, you should be aware that each patient has to give you verbal permission to watch. Even if the majority of patients are eager, sometimes they won’t. You may also need to look for positions further away since some general practitioners reject students who are registered patients in order to prevent neighbors from recognizing them. Asking questions never hurts, so if you want to create the finest application possible, be sure to give this a try.
Remember that we have a knowledgeable admissions staff that can assist you in creating a strong application for a prestigious undergraduate or graduate medical program.
