Work experience/Volunteering for medicine

[questioner123]

Hello everyone,

Just wondering whether you all could give me some of your opinions please!

So my DD is interested in studying medicine and she would be applying next year.

She has already done 10 weeks in a care home (she didn't really gain much out of it though to be honest, they didn't allow her to get involved much!), has just started volunteering on the elderly care ward in the hospital for 2 hours a week over summer and will be carrying this on in the holidays from September, so would have done about 20 weeks worth at the time of applying, and this year will be doing at least a term volunteering at a special needs school. Does she need to do anymore volunteering wise? She can volunteer twice a week at the day centre for the elderly, but our weeks are so busy with other commitments as well so I don't want her to drain herself before sixth form in September. Does she need more variety in her volunteering for example more with children as she has done a lot with the elderly, or she can ask later on in the year to volunteer on another ward for experience?

She has also done 3 days work experience in A and E shadowing doctors and some nurses, and 2 days GP admin experience. Will be doing physio work experience next year. Does she need to apply for anymore clinical experience?

Also, any more tips? How important are extra-cirricular, she doesn't really do much sporty/music things, but can do horse riding every now and then if its important. What other things make the personal statement stand out? Are school roles etc important? She is really determined and is fully aware of how competitive things are.

Thank you all for reading this long post. Look forward to hearing your comments.

:-)

The first thing that makes her personal statement stand out is her academic grades, both GCSE's and A-level, so please don't lose sight of that! Of course, work experience/voluntary work is important but that's not the be all and the end all. I know a junior doctor who went to Cambridge and now doing his F2 in a London hospital who's done virtually no WE at all (he went to a boardng school) but has tremendous academic grades. As far as I'm concerned, your DD seems to be doing more than enough in the WE department for UCAS A100 application so please don't go to town on that. In fact, my DS did only a fraction of what your DD has done WE wise, and he's just qualified as a doctor this week.

Encourage your DD to read more and be as up to date as possible with what's happening in the world of medicine. There's plenty of stuff out there, even in the regular newspapers, e.g. what's her take on the surgeon who removed his (female) patients' breasts unnecessarily presumably to generate more income; a parent/s desperate attempt to send their young baby to the USA for questionable treatment when doctors here want to end his life support. Contrast this case with the parents who secretly took their young son away for treatment in Europe and refused to return whilst already being treated locally in a NHS hospital, etc.

Different medical schools will each be looking for slightly different things.

You don't say what your daughter's other strengths are and where she will be aiming.

DD applied to Personal Statement heavy medical schools, in part because she had bag loads of extra-curricular, leadership and volunteering, but also because she felt that these schools offered the best fit for her. Plus her UKCAT was not great and she decided not to take BMAT.

As peteneras suggests, if you have strong academics, and have sufficient experience and/or reading to demonstrate a good interest in medicine, a commitment to the course and an understanding of what a medical career entails, I don't think you need worry too much. And it looks as if she has done a lot already.

That said shadowing never seems to go amiss, and DD was lucky in that by chance one MMI interview focused on an area of hospital work she had directly experienced.

I am surprised your daughter did not get much out of the care home. DD did similar, mainly kitchen, cleaning and "waitressing". She liked the more feisty residents and enjoyed the discipline of work and her colleagues, and seemed to pick up quite a lot from other staff about managing various residents, and relatives. In the event she was never asked, but picked up a lot of soft skills and would have happy to talk about it. Plus it was useful to be reassured that she could face a geriatric rotation.

I would not bother about horseriding. But would check that to some extent she can demonstrate interests outside medicine and an ability to engage with different types of people. A strong UKCAT/BMAT is much more important, as is choosing the right places to apply.

Thank you both for your replies, they are very helpful!

Some courses put a great weight on volunteering and others less so. One brilliant area for those considering volunteering is the St John's Ambulance who have a junior division and offer great training. Breadth is also good to show dedication. I think random horse riding does not mean much but proving you have skills that are desirable to be a Dr is a good idea.

It might be worth looking through some medical school websites to get a feel for their interview structures. Some will pick up on things in the personal statement and will ask about the volunteer work (including whether the student is continuing with any of it - but don't worry, they understand students have to focus on exams and may have had to stop!). Usually they will try to establish what the student got from/learnt from a particular activity. Other interviews are very structured with stations where the candidate is asked a specific question, which may be an ethics one, for instance.
The chances are your dd is going to be working overwhelming with the elderly for large parts of her career. She needs to demonstrate empathy for them as a body (sorry that sounds a bit remote ), so obviously that work experience is fundamental. But the bit I enjoyed most, and still look back on as being immensely valuable, nearly 30 years after qualifying, was my volunteer work with children. I gained insight into the lives of families with Downs and Cerebral Palsy children, and I fell in love with so many of the children that I had got to know at a Saturday club, and holiday play scheme, run by a charity.

Sorry my mind is on other things. The grammar of the last sentence in my post above is shocking! Medics don't learn to write coherent sentences

Thank you guys for your comments! I will pass all of this on to her, so she can do more research! Very helpful :-) she is stuck choosing between volunteering at the elderly day centre for those with dementia once a week or at the hospital in the elderly ward... what would you all think is more valuable for the application? She did enjoy the day centre slightly more... and Dunlurking, no worries about the grammar haha . She would love to do more volunteering with children but has just struggled to find anything for that. Her school however have contacts with a local special needs school which she will start later on this year...

Do what you enjoy, tell her! So long as she reflects on what she's getting out of it. I'm all for focusing on the community side of things rather than fixating on hospitals, but then I'm a former GP.

She already has a lot of experience. Now she needs to pick something and stick at it to show commitment- very important for Medicine as a career. Volunteering once a week for 2 years for example.

Any hobby to show she is a well rounded individual is fine.

@BlumenRoses, spot on, same with dentistry and other health care professions. Once a week in an elderly care home or local charity shop etc is ideal. Long term commitment is important, it also shows the candidate has been able to develop skills and grow over long period of time.

She seems to be doing a lot more than my doctor sibling did who went to Cambridge! Just keep up the exam grades as the priority and a bit of work experience. She seems to have done loads which is very good. I don't know baout extra curricular stuff - we did a lot but because it was part of life/fun, not because of university particularly. I doubt they are allowed to make it matter too much as that's unfair on students from families who cannot afford lessons etc.