Work Experience Student Review

shadowing a cardiologist and following their daily routine sitting in on patient plan meetings and meetings with senior consultants talking to junior doctors about their experiences and how they have found working in the NHS so far talking to different members of different departments and discussing their job role and the teamwork aspect of working in a hospital

i learned how to talk to new people and come across as professional and well put together when talking to senior members of staff. i also saw the different factors that go into creating a patient plan, and how each plan is well suited to each individual. overall, the experience highlighted the work involved in working in a hospital and the different skills a doctor would need.

i enjoyed my work experience, but it was clear that the department had not planned for student work experience placements. although i had given 6 weeks notice prior to my placement, i was not given a plan of what to expect, or even the departments i was to visit. a lot of things were new to me, but were not explained, such as the terminology used when describing an ECG.

it was not well organised; the department simply assigned me a person to follow for the day and explain their role. most of the professionals i shadowed just carried about their daily routine without explaining anything to me, and barely actually spoke to me. although the patient interactions were valuable, there was very little actually planned for me.

the placement gave me a good insight into what it would be like to work in a hospital and the different job roles involved, but the details and specifics of each job were not made clear to me. the department i worked in was connected to other departments within the hospital but i was not given the chance to shadow anyone outside of cardiology.

although i am fairly sure that i want to follow the path of becoming a doctor, the placement did not help me learn about the specifics of working in cardiology and the technical aspects of what cardiologists do outside of talking to patients and creating treatment plans. the placement was supposed to give me a realist outlook on working in a hospital, and my placement half delivered.

no, i was not paid or reimbursed. travel was around £12 a day for me, but i was not offered reimbursement and meals were not paid for. although, this was made clear to me before i started my placement, and i was presented this information via email by the professional i approached.

no, there was not. the cardiology department is linked to other departments, but i was not given the chance to network or meet the employees. this is mainly due to the fact that other departments do not accept work experience students which is important to consider, so take this into account.

No

most of the skills i gained from my work experience were not specific to a placement in the NHS; they are mainly professional skills i could have gained elsewhere. although the placement did give me then chance to see how patient plans are decided, it did not give me insight on the specific scientific skills a cardiologist may need.

apply early and given enough time in advance some departments are more open to students to others, especially those that do not deal with difficult patient cases, such as physiotherapy or orthopaedics email a range of consultants, most of them do not reply and you may get a few automated emails