Hello dear cyber followers
(I'm not even sure if 'followers' is an appropriate term, is it just for
twitter or can we use it here?)
Currently sitting on a
train and had nothing to do and thought I'd think of something to post and came
up with the great topic that is work experience, so here goes...
I'm assuming all of you
fellow would-be medics know exactly what I mean by work experience but just to
clear up any confusion, I am referring to the essential (because, lets be
honest, you are not going to get into medical school unless you have some sort
of work experience) shadowing of GPs or specialists and even surgeons for
either a day or a few days (and if you're very lucky, a few weeks). This can
take place in the UK or for some lucky folk, it can even be abroad (I am very
pleased to say that I've been able to take part in some work experience abroad
which was a great comparison to the UK way of doing doctory things - yes, that
is a semi-constructed interview answer you've just read!)
So now we're all on the
same page, let's get some structure into this post. First, I think its best to
give you all some helpful hints that I've found over the years to help those of
you still looking for work experience and include some things to expect. Then,
I'll give some juicy (or gory - depending on your opinion) of some of the stuff
I've experienced.
HELPFUL HINTS:
• Get work experience whenever, wherever and however you
can
In my opinion, it is never too
early to start work experience - I think I did my first placement when I was
around 14 and I won't be getting to medical school (assuming I get in!) until
I'm 22 but all of it has been useful and worth every second.
Wherever is also important.
Obviously, it has to be either near home/school/uni to be convenient but maybe
you can stay with a friend for a few days or dig up some cousins (hopefully,
not literally!) to say with. My last work experience was not so close to home
and stayed in a Premier Inn so some days and commuted (how very grown-up of
me!) the rest.
And, however means however
(as in any way you can). No-one in my family is a doctor (well, small white lie
if you count my dad's cousin who lives abroad and didn't train or ever practise
in the UK so I don't count that!) so I've had no 'shoe-ins' for work
experience. Instead, at every doctor's appointment I went to from about 14
years old, I would ask said doctor if there was any chance of shadowing him/her
and at least a few times this actually paid off! (I say 'I' but to be perfectly
honest, a lot of the time it was my mother because she is a hell of a lot more
ballsy than I am at this kind of thing). Alternatives also include dinner
parties (hosted by parents and hoping their friends are doctors) or just
generally badgering everyone you know!
• Remember: no experience is irrelevant or useless and
even one day can be an extremely useful insight in life as a doctor
There is no such thing as a
pointless work experience. Even if you've hated it (some experience with that
over here), you will have still learnt something - even if its just that you
will never want to become that sort of specialty.
According to the few open
days I have already attended (details to come), the whole point of work
experience is to confirm that you do actually want to be a doctor and that you
know what such a career involves. So every experience counts towards that
• Reflect on all your experiences, write those down and
look over them during application time
The most useful advice I've
ever received from someone I was shadowing was to write down everything I'd
learnt or observed or thought or mused or whatever goes on in my head at the
end of the day. This 'work experience diary' as we'll call it will become your
lifesaver when it comes to personal statement writing and I can guess
interviews (am yet to experience that nugget of joy...) because the interview
panel want to know about your views and what you think/feel/appreciate about
life as a doctor.
• Don't forget about extra-cirricular activities
Anyone that's tried to get
work experience knows how difficult it is so let's not forget about the
importance of other things you can do to try and 'bulk up' your CV (and
ultimately your personal statement).
I have always been partial
to a bit of volunteering which I've been doing since GCSE time (for any non-UK
people reading that's around 15/16 years old). I've worked in schools (both
mainstream and those for children with special needs), in care homes and other
bits and bobs. I've met people that have volunteering in hospitals which sounds
like a fabulous way to gain some intimate knowledge on the inner workings of
medical communities.
Volunteering is useful in
many ways. Obviously (if it is relevant eg: working in a hospital or with
special needs children) it can give you insight into some aspects of the
medical profession but more importantly it demonstrates commitment and passion.
Volunteering is, usually, a long-term commitment so it proves that you have
staying power (aka commitment) and hopefully a passion for what you are
involved in.
If volunteering isn't your
thing or you fancy earning a bit of money, I've heard of some people working in
clinical labs or as phlebotomists. Both of these are absolutely amazing
opportunities as they demonstrate the same positives as volunteering as well as
developing relevant skills and earning you some extra cash. A point to note
here is that this avenue of 'extra-cirricular activities' might be more
suitable to those applying GEM rather than school leavers.
I think that's it for
helpful hints and useful points from me - if I think of any more, I'll add them
to the list (feel free to comment with your own also!)
WHAT TO EXPECT:
Throughout my years (oh
dear, I am sounding very old!!) I have found that what to expect from work
experience differs on many points. Firstly it is age-dependent (as in your age)
because under-18s have much more stringent guidelines on what they are allowed
to do/see/take part in - I don't really know why this is but I'm guessing its
to do with health & safety (that old chestnut), education (as in what you
actually know about what's going on) and maybe also a little bit to do with
maturity (because, trust me, when you're witnessing a blood spurting out of
your brain and a flatlined monitor at 20 years old, you'll be very glad you
didn't see that at 14 - yes, that is actually something that happened during
one of my work experience placements!!). And secondly, I think it is slightly
consultant-dependent - by this I mean that the experience you get and how
positive it is, is down to a combination of what you put in and the
attitude of the consultant/doctor your shadowing. Some of them would rather you
just observe silently (but that’s pretty rare – I’ve never experienced that)
whereas others want you to get involved (to varying degrees and within the
realms of age and competence obviously!!)
But in general, I would say
-
• Expect to maybe have been forgotten about
A few times, I have turned
up at the arranged time and no-one knew/remembered I was coming!! That's
absolutely fine because to be honest, doctors/surgeons do have better things to
do than have us shadowing them but they're just helping out the next generation
of life-savers (I quite like the sound of that to describe us all!!). All you
have to do is just politely remind them of your phone/email exchanges and all
will be fine. If in doubt and they are a consultant - always go to the
secretary - he/she always knows what's going on.
• Expect to be a bit of a 'deer stuck in the
headlights'
The medic/surgeon you are
shadowing, if they're nice (which in my experience, most are) will try and
involve you as much as they can (I must say that I've found, the older I am the
more involved I have been) and the best way to do that is for them to explain
what they are doing and (however daunting) to ask you questions. It is ok to
say 'I don't know' because you are not a doctor yet and you only know
what you've been taught. Having said that, if you know you are going to shadow
a doctor who specialises in cardiology it may be a bit useful to read up on the structure and
function of the heart.
• If you're anything like me, expect to be absolutely
terrified the first time you go
I love meeting new people
on a night out or in a social setting as that's how we all make friends (yes
the end to that sentence was disgustingly cheesy... I'm considering changing
it, if I can be bothered) but I am not the most comfortable in a new
work/academic setting so my first work experience at the tender age of 14 was
absolutely terrifying. But, thankfully, the terror faded away when the GP I was
shadowing saw his first patient because I then realised - right, this isn't too
bad and actually it's quite a lot like what I imagined.
JUICY DEETS:
(apologies for using
'deets' but I feel I should be honest with you all, I am once of those idiots
that shortens EVERYTHING... details = deets, dinner = dins, people = peeps etc.
etc. etc. I will not judge you if you turn away and never come back to this
blog again)
In the past few years I
have seen surgeries all over the body (I mean it, literally from head to toe:
neurosurgery for a month all the way through to a few weeks with orthopaedic
surgeons, some gynaecology and ENT stuff in the middle too) as well as working
in an STD clinic and a lot of the experience I've done has been on
paediatric wards (however, most of the surgeries have been on grown ups) and
its ALL been AMAZING!
I've never doubted I wanted
to be a doctor (except a brief stint during A levels when I gave up Chemistry
and though Clinical Psychology was for me - obviously, that didn't stick) but
work experience has just proved to me that I want it enough to stick through
all the stuff I don't like and all the boring paperwork (trust me, I have never
seen anything like it... one patient = a mountain of paperwork)
Anyway, you probably don't
care about any of this and you just want to know the stuff I've seen, so here
you go:
- The previously described
brain spurting and flat-lining. This has got to be the most exciting (just so
you know the patient survived with no long-lasting brain damage, I'm not that
awful!!!) because I have never seen a room change atmosphere so quickly. We
were in there for a tumour removal and it was all going fine and dandy (there
was some background music, it was great) and then next thing I now we have a
nice red fountain coming from someone's brain (got some on my scrubs - oh yeah)
and the whole surgical team is in action. It was great, everyone was
co-ordinated and between the anaesthetist and the surgeons everything was
solved within 30 seconds (if that) and everything was back to normal.
- Hip replacements. Some of
you might be like 'what, why is this exciting' which I though at first but when
you see one its really interesting. Not going to lie - I was not a fan of the
surgeon dislocating the hip to pull it out of its sockets (I don't think
orthopaedics is for me if the bone 'crunching' makes me a bit wobbly) but the
rest of it is so cool. Best part (for me) is the bone cement they use - its
amazing. At first its just green play-dough and then within a few minutes it
gets really hot and then is rock hard. All you chemists out there will know exactly
what's going on but for me it was harry potter-like and pretty awesome.
- Stem cell research. I was
extremely fortunate that one of the surgeries I observed was performed by
someone who uses stem cells and regenerate cartilage and because I saw this whilst
at uni I also had a rough idea what was going on. It was amazing and really
showed you the power of all the research that goes on in the labs and the
overall purpose of scientific research. This existential thinking has
definitely helped me through some horrendous labs!
That's just three of many
amazing experiences. I would write them all down but I doubt you guys can be bothered to read much more of my ramblings. If for some reason you do, let me know and I'd be more than happy to write down some more!
So this has been a very
long post (sorry to those who got bored half way through - I am known to waffle
a little!!) but I believe work experience is invaluable to anyone wanting to
apply to medical school. Although it is a lot like you imagined (that is,
unless your expecting Patrick Dempsey to walk around the corner and propose to
you in the next elevator......) but there are lots of unexpected things.
Working as part of a team, making hard decisions, lots and lots of paper work
and occasionally some yummy biscuits are all part of life as a doctor and you
can only see these things when you're actually there experiencing the
day-to-day.
In summary (oh yeah, very
essay-like and technical... really, its just because I said 'so' in the start
of the paragraph above!) GO DO WORK EXPERIENCE and once you've done it WRITE
EVERYTHING DOWN!!
That's it for now,
Dr Wannabe x
