What type of work experience should I get if I am considering medicine? Any tips?

Aside from shadowing doctors at their practices or hospitals, you could also arrange a health screening at your school/college. I was the president of my health society in college, and we organized a full day of simple health screening procedures that were carried out on our students and staff; this included measuring weight and height for calculating BMI, measuring blood glucose and also measuring blood pressure. Although its not experience in a strictly formal environment, it gives you a tiny taste of what's next to come down the road. It's also a good opportunity to test and develop your people-skills!

Obtaining work experience in a medical setting is competitive and not always possible. You can try to obtain work experience by contacting hospitals and researching online to see if they have an education department with a contact who may be able to advise you. The most important thing about work experience isn’t just about where it is or what you’ve seen but what you’ve learnt. If you are unable to find work experience in a hospital or GP there are other options such as schools for deaf or blind children, pharmacies, district nurses and social workers- these are best arranged by emailing them providing a CV and a cover letter. Additionally talk to teachers and career advisors at school or college if possible and they may have information on work experience in local hospitals. Volunteering over a longer time period shows commitment and this can be done in a wide variety of places. Try and chose one in a caring setting such as a nursing home or in community groups etc. The website doit.org has a lot of volunteering opportunities. I hope this helps. I am a second year medical student and did a work experience in a hospital which was organized by the hospital with local schools, a pharmacy and a school for deaf children as well as volunteering at a home for disabled adults on a weekly basis for a few years.

The easiest way is to write to your local GP and ask or if you have any friends/family in medicine. I also got some through a company called gap medics which was really good, although you had to pay for it.

Get in touch if you’d like some further assistance in securing work experience.

Start by approaching your local GP(s)and ask if you can shadow him/her for a session or two. Make sure to write a cover letter to explain your ambition for pursuing a career in medicine. Gaining work experience in the NHS can be extremely difficult and they stopped taking ok students within a clinical capacity as its caused issue in the past. You could try any other clinical settings in and around your area, any exposure to healthcare would benefit but universities are keen on students who’ve gained experience within the NHS framework which includes GP surgery.