What is work experience?
Learn what counts as work experience for medical school and how to build it. Focus on quality over quantity through volunteering, hospital attachments, and self-directed learning.
What is work experience?
Work experience is any activity or life experience that helps you to prepare for medical school. This means any activity that allows you to demonstrate that you have:
Had people-focused experience of providing a service, care, support or help to others, and that you understand the realities of working in a caring profession
Developed some of the values, attitudes and behaviours essential to being a doctor such as conscientiousness, effective communication and the ability to interact with a wide variety of people.
A realistic understanding of medicine and in particular the physical, organisational and emotional demands of a medical career
Usual ways you can achieve work experience
Volunteer regularly (usually students join Interact Club or Red Cross)
Hospital attachments (look out for opportunities under the ECG Repository in our College Portal)
Temporary jobs at a clinic or hospital after graduation
Other ways you can achieve experience
Talking with doctors and medical students (on-line if required)
Attending a university information session/open day (on-line if required)
Reading medical literature e.g The British Medical Journal’s open access information
Reading books on medicine e.g. "How Doctors Think" by Jerome Groopman, "What Doctors Feel: How Emotions Affect the Practice of Medicine" by Danielle Ofri etc
Keep a reflective diary on what is happening in the news and online
Virtual work experience e.g. Brighton and Sussex Medical School
Explore online e.g.
Singapore Healthhub
Guardian’s science page
The Telegraph’s health page
Healthcare careers in UK
Online documentaries, TED talks etc
The key ideas here are
Quality of experience over quantity
Accumulate reflection on experiences gained