Why do I need work experience as a medical school applicant?

Work experience is essential for all UK medical school applications. It can give you a taste of how medicine is like and allow you to gain new skills, which you can reflect on in your personal statement and interviews. This article will explore different types of work experience you can do, how you can get work experience and how you can use your work experience in your application to medical school!

What work experience do I need to get into medicine?

Medical schools would like to see work experience which has given you an understanding of what it is like to care for people, has helped you to gain skills that will help you to be a good doctor (communication, team work, organisation skills etc.) and has allowed you to explore some of the demands in medicine. Be sure to check out individual medical school websites for work experience requirements too!

Examples of work experience you can look for include:

• GP placement
• Hospital placement
• Working in a care home as a care assistant
• Volunteering (eg. John’s Ambulance)
• International placements
• Online work experience (if you are struggling to get in-person work experience)

There is currently free online work experience available with the Royal College of General Practitioners and with the Brighton and Sussex Medical school.

How to get work experience

The most important thing to do is to ask! You can email local hospitals or general practices and ask if you can do your work experience with them. You may have to send emails to quite a few NHS trusts if you would like work experience in a hospital setting. It is also useful to speak to someone you know who works in a hospital setting to help you to arrange work experience. You can shadow doctors or other members of the healthcare team! You can also speak to a career coordinator to help you organise work experience or volunteering if you are currently in school or college.

How do I ask for a work experience certificate and what it needs to contain? How many days/hours do I need to have evidence for?

Many medical schools do not require you to have a set number of hours for work experience or even a work experience certificate. The most important thing they want to see is how you reflect on the experiences you’ve gained!

Tips when on placement

• Make a diary of all your experiences and reflect on them each day for your personal statement. You can learn more about personal statements here!
• Dress in smart clothing
• Be aware of confidentiality and make sure you don’t discuss patient details outside of the department/organisation you work with
• Be enthusiastic and ask questions to make the most out of your experience!

How you can use your work experience in your medical school application

Admissions officers would like to see the skills you have gained and how it will help you to become a good medical student – it should be more than just a list. Start by making a diary each day whilst doing your work experience so you don’t forget what you have done. It is important that you constantly reflect on your experiences throughout your application, such as in your personal statement and interviews. For example, if you improved your skills in team work during your work experience, state an example of how you gained it on your placement, why it is important and always link it back to how you can use that skill in medical school. Future Doc has many resources you can use to help you prepare for interviews. We provide 1 ON 1 mentoring too!

Written by Naa-Dromoh Quarshie