Benefits of hospital work experience
The benefits of hospital work experience for students planning a career in healthcare can be huge, be it during Sixth Form, while at university or on a gap year in between. This page outlines some of the main reasons students choose Gap Medics to help them get that experience.
Is this the career for you?
Medicine, nursing, dentistry and midwifery are all highly demanding careers. When it comes to deciding whether a healthcare career is really for you there’s no substitute for the first-hand experience of shadowing professionals in a real-life hospital environment. Even just observing can be tough, but also incredibly rewarding, and the experience will test your motivation and aptitude for the profession.
UCAS personal statement
Simply signing up for a Gap Medics placement won’t help you get a place at university, but the experience you’ll have the opportunity to gain can really stand out on a well-written university application. You’ll not only be able to talk from personal experience about interesting clinical situations, but also about important ethical questions and how a hospital team works. It’s 100% about what you make of the experience yourself, but being one of the few applicants who has witnessed a Caesarean section in a resource-limited African hospital or spent a week in A&E should give you a good start!
University interviews
Even with top A-levels and a well-written application, there’s a good chance you’ll be asked to attend interviews at universities that are considering making you an offer. Here, as much as on your personal statement, interviewers are looking for you to demonstrate a genuine understanding of what your chosen course and future profession is really like.
Healthcare education in the UK is highly practical, and throughout university you will be expected to analyse and reflect on clinical situations you experience; demonstrating that you have the ability to do that during an interview from experience you have already gained will go a long way.
Understand the relevance of pre-clinical training
The first year or so of most healthcare courses involves a great deal of theory to lay an academic foundation for your later clinical training. Having seen for yourself the sharp end of clinical medicine, nursing or dentistry will help you to understand the importance and relevance of that classroom learning – and that can be a huge boost to motivation when you’re under a mountain of books!
Appreciate diversity in healthcare
The way in which healthcare is delivered around the world varies enormously, affected by economics, climate, cultural beliefs, religion, technology and many other factors. Undertaking hospital work experience overseas can help you to understand some of the reasons behind this diversity, and appreciate that the ‘right’ way of doing something isn’t necessarily the same everywhere.
Personal development
Quite apart from the benefits in terms of getting into university and supporting your studies, a Gap Medics placement can be a life-changing personal experience. You’ll live together with like-minded students from around the world, many of whom will be your friends for years to come, take responsibility for your own life and have to earn the respect of your hospital mentors if you want the best opportunities. From helping out in the kitchen on barbecue nights at the house to camping under the stars in the Rajasthan desert, diving with dolphins in Thailand or bouncing through lion country in a safari Jeep – every moment is an adventure.
The Universities Award
Gap Medics placements fulfill all of the requirements for the Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network (ASDAN) Universities Award. Many UK universities acknowledge the value of this award, and it features in the UCAS guidance notes for applicants as something noteworthy to mention on your UCAS form.
The Universities Award recognises students who have been involved in experiential learning and who have developed their own personal skills including working with others, improving own learning and problem solving. Many students have found that the Universities Award has made a significant difference to the outcome of their UCAS application process, either at formal interview stage or to the subsequent offers that have been made.
Essentials
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"As a parent, the website was great as we were able to see where Charlie was going and who he would be with - very reassuring as he had never travelled independently before.
The change in Charlie too was quite obvious - he grew up enormously in the time spent with you. The whole experience showed him that medicine is what he wants to do and he came back with a passion and maturity... which was reflected in his personal statement."
"Placements for prospective undergraduates can be difficult to come by in the UK.
Joining Gap Medics structured programme overseas not only makes good work experience more accessible, it can be far more varied and rewarding"
