Work Experience advice

[Aaliyah]

Hi All

I'm sure we've all heard that in our personal statements we've got to show that we have some practical work expereince. I am assuming that being mature students, we are in or have worked in some type of employment at some point in our lives.

My particular dilemma that I woke up with today is this:

I work full time in a maternity and childrens hospital. Although I work in HR and I am not in a nursing,midwifery, hca etc role, I do spend a lot of time on the wards partly due to my interests in medicine and because I spend a loto f time chasing doctors/consultants for one thing or another. Consequentlt I feel quite exposed to the NHS and the day to day runnings of busy medical departments.

The question is - do you reckon this is enough to put down on my personal statement as relevant work experience or is it better to have some sort of direct care work experience i.e HCA etc????

I just feel that holding down a full time job and a care job be it in a nursing home or hospital will to too much - Does anyone reckon it would harm my chances at application stage if I have not had any direct care experience??

All advice welcome

[Bambi]

I think you will have a better chance if you have some more hands on stuff. If you don't want to be an HCA or anything full time maybe keep your current job and do some voluntary work in a hospice or something.

[sarahjd82]

Could you perhaps do some voluntary work at the weekend? I spent a summer helping at a care home for a couple of hours on Sunday mornings. My situation is similar to you in some ways in that I work in a PCT so have lots of NHS experience but not particularly hands on. In my Birmingham interview they were particularly interested in my care home expereince so I would definitely recommend that you try to do something similar. However, there is no need to get a second job, as a few hours volunteering a week should be ok, and will allow you to be a lot more flexible than if it was formal employment. Hope that helps...

[racheljane]

If I were in your shoes I'd keep the job you're in as it's great work and as you said it's good experience of the running of the NHS and observing healthcare professionals; but also agree with Bambi and Sarah that you should do some hands-on voluntary work. If you can't fit in something like a shift a week in a hospital then how about joining Red Cross or St John's?

[jedherman]

Have you no hands-on experience what-so-ever? (No, i'm not going down the line of "It is such a dedicated profession, how do you know you want to do it? blah blah blah")

When I applied I was working in a clerical role (however I did have patient contact) and it didn't seem to be an obstacle. I had been a care assistant for a year during my degree (at weekends) though. When I wrote about the clerical job in my PS I sold it as 'better' than the typical experience as you see both sides of the NHS - for example you experience the wards, and you have observed pt-pratitioner interactions (even if you're not directly involved) BUT as you are 'clerical' you also see the work that goes on behind the scenes; and this is what some HCAs may ("may", guys "may") not see and that is very important. Almost crucial I'd say. You have an appreciation for the bigger picture.

If you have some work experience, but it is limited don't quantify it! Say that you have "worked as an HCA" and don't say "for one Sunday afternoon I was an HCA"!! I knew the porters at work and wangled time shaddowing them, and manged to get some time in theatre too. So take advantage of being in a hospital!!

Just for the record, I don't recall being asked that much (if any) about my experiences at my last interview....but that was 6 months ago now!

Bottom line: do your best to get some experience, but worry not as your current job probably won't let you down.

[Aaliyah]

Thanks all - really helpful. I'll think I'll just put myself on the Bank and if any opportunities come up to do a couple of shifts here and there, then so be it. Come to think of it I did spend 3 months working with the pressure ulcer nurse on the wards and 4 months working for the risk manager analysing clinical incidences - I suppose that all counts........... I haven't even applied yet and I'm being driven mad by it all!!

[Mog]

Just have to add that I didn't have much medical work experience under my belt (8 weeks over 2 years) but when i was interviewed George's were really impressed with all the voluntary work I've done (SGUL in particular place alot of emphasis on this)...I had to juggle work experience, PhD and GAMSAT revision but worth the slog!

[Dr.Ead]

Mog, do you think the Phd has helped you in your admissions process?

[pocket]

Hi All

I'm sure we've all heard that in our personal statements we've got to show that we have some practical work expereince. I am assuming that being mature students, we are in or have worked in some type of employment at some point in our lives.

My particular dilemma that I woke up with today is this:

I work full time in a maternity and childrens hospital. Although I work in HR and I am not in a nursing,midwifery, hca etc role, I do spend a lot of time on the wards partly due to my interests in medicine and because I spend a loto f time chasing doctors/consultants for one thing or another. Consequentlt I feel quite exposed to the NHS and the day to day runnings of busy medical departments.

The question is - do you reckon this is enough to put down on my personal statement as relevant work experience or is it better to have some sort of direct care work experience i.e HCA etc????

I just feel that holding down a full time job and a care job be it in a nursing home or hospital will to too much - Does anyone reckon it would harm my chances at application stage if I have not had any direct care experience??

All advice welcome

I had very little work experience when I applied. To be honest I don't always think that volunteering somewhere is as important as being able to demonstrate knowledge and insight into doing medicine as a career. Your experience in HR in a health care setting will be very valuable. Don't underestimate how much valuable experience you have in this economically driven nhs.

[Mog]

Mog, do you think the Phd has helped you in your admissions process?

My PhD only helped (a bit) during my interview because I drew alot of my experiences of team-work, management, organisation etc from it....but I applied for GEPs only where your academic history isn't really considered...it's all about the admissions tests ....People have mentioned that you should down-play your PhD when writing you personal statement because some think it might make you look fickle and that you have 'career commitment' issues....this is a load of rubbish!... My colleague is a consultant who's also involved in admissions decisions onto the UCL med course...she encouraged me to pursue med and she thinks my PhD would be a great asset and if she ever came across an applicant with a PhD she would certainly see it as a bonus!.....also once you qualify as a doc these extra qualifications and publications will have you well ahead of the game!