Shadowing Doctor Review

I worked as a nurse in a hospital ward, I had to shadow a doctor and observe what his work was like on a day to basis and also help thought out his day e.g passing him items around the ward, sending information to other doctors etc. I also had to opportunity to talk to the patients and just talk to them while they were recovering. It was a truly moving experience.

I learnt a variety of new skills but the main thing I learnt was just how much the doctors work and how long they work. I also got to appreciate that if I want to go into the medical secto later in my life it will be lots of hard work to get there and it will very tough once I start. I also learnt a lot of techiniques that doctors use on there patients. I learnt a vast amount of medical related skills aswell as evolving existing skills punctuality and managing my work load.

I loved working at the hospital ward, while talking to some of the customers was sad from time to time as they’d just been through a life changing experience it was very good to shadow a doctor and learn about the skills needed to be a doctor and what they do on a day to day basis. It changed how I think about doctors.

I felt very valued my them, the doctors treated me very well and often just treated me like I was their friends. I developed a close relationship to all of the staff who were extremely nice and friendly and also with the patients in the ward. They also gave me a great reference to put in my university application this year and also a great experience to talk about on my personal statement.

The structure was very well organised, I was told every day what I’d be doing gmgenerally that day and also what time aid have my breaks and what time I’d be finishing etc. Due to the nature of the work experience I never felt like I was doing the same thing twice, every day there was a new hurdle or new problem that needed to be solved which was very fun and also hard at times. It was a great structured course.

I received lots of help during my time there, they told me how to carry out certain procedures and also what I could and couldn’t do. They were always there ready to assist me if I needed help getting around or just with any thing else. At the start of the course they told me where I could find additional help if I needed it and they weren’t around. Overall the support I received was immensely great.

Same as above really, they were always there to support me if I needed the help but the help from my employer was more to focoused on the actual procedure so e.g. helping to fund the travel costs to get the ward and back home, giving me access cards to different departments and also showing me around on my first day and introducing me to everyone there.

I wasn’t paid as this was a voluntary work experience and I was really only doing it to gain the skills and experience out of it. Also the reference for my university applications and something to talk about at my university interviews. They did give me money for lunch everyday however and also funded my travel there and back again as the ward was quite far away from where I live so this wasn’t great.

There were tremendous amounts of opportunities outside of work, they’d often host talks and lectures for prospective medical students to tell us what we need to be doing right now if we want to apply in the best future also there were talks about what we can be doing outside of just working hard at college to ensure we get a place at a good medical university. There also several other that i couldn’t attend due to the long commute sadly.

Yes

If you want to go into medical studies in the future then this is a great opertunity to learn more about it and brag to your interviewers about at your application interviews. It gives you lots of skills that you can take away and apply to other aspects of your life aswell and it develops skills you already have. A must for any prospective medical student I’d say.

I’d say to make sure you apply early so that you end up getting a place as late applications aren’t considered equally to those who apply on time. Also to make sure that you apply to a hospital that is close to where you live and the long commute can waste a lot of you learn day. Also make sure you get the most out of it and don’t be scared to ask any questions you have.