Honestly, I cannot relate enough to what you said at the end of the video. While work experience was interesting, I couldn't help but feel out of place. Hospital work experience is all too often portrayed as where you have a 'eureka' moment about medicine but it I learn so much more from the interactions I had while volunteering. As a medicine applicant, it feels like hospital work experience has been overvalued by many universities.

Just when you got fed up of reading an interviews Q&A book ----- switch on a nice relaxing video

So so reassuring to hear someone at your stage saying such relatable things about work experience! I really worried when everyone else seemed to have an abundance of life changing 'eureka' moments from work experience and I could think of none. You're the first person I've heard cast any doubt on the culture around work experience and the expectation of these moments and it is a great relief at this stage in the process. I was really clutching at straws to find these moments for my PS, because I've so often been told that it's just not enough to say you love science and people without the eureka moments to support it. I have gained a lot from work experience, having no prior experience of hospitals or careers in medicine (I also volunteer weekly in hospital), but the vast majority of the time I do feel excluded from the goings on of the wards and therefore I just don't enjoy it. I'm glad that it is a requirement as I know a lot of people who have been put off medicine by it, but I do think the culture of 'if you don't like work experience then you shouldn't become a doctor' is off putting.

Medicine truly is a beautiful profession ❤️

I'm from Botswana and I've subscribed to your page, its very helpful, and I'm awaiting responses from medical schools in the UK. Keep up the good work.

Honestly I'm in the same shoe concerning this whole work experience thing. I volunteered at an orphanage for an entire year and it was great but I couldn't last more than 2 days in a hospital because I didn't understand most of what was going on and I was trying to stay out of everyone's hair. I did get interviews though even without work experience though it is a bit strange as you said not to have it. But I honestly think I learnt and felt a lot more at the orphanage than I ever did at the hospital and it wasn't because I was discouraged by the hospital environment or I don't want to be a doctor or something but simply because of how volunteering made me feel, see and learn a great deal more.

2020 and video still applies to me preparing for my radiology interview! thanks for the great free content :)

I enjoyed both volunteering and working as a care assistant in a dementia care home, and as a healthcare assistant in the Neuro ICU and witnessing surgeries. But to be honest for me it was a bit different. What I am most grateful for is that my work experience as a whole was like a learning curve for me and it helped me in my day to day life with my confidence, for example. I already had a background in neuroscience when I started to 'tick my work experience list'' and have taken part in some studies about dementia so I was familiar with the signs of dementia and the pathological basis of Alzheimer's Parkinson's etc but never interacted with a patient in real life before. So on my first day as a carer in a dementia care home, I started crying because I was overwhelmed with how much suffering it can be in such a place. I was also very distressed because I didn't know how to interact with such patients, so felt that I was causing them more harm than good because, for example, I didn't know how to ask questions in the right way. Sometimes with these patients, you kinda know you are not going to get an answer back even though they might understand you. So I felt that I was putting them on great distress and sort of reminding them that they can not speak or move. But I learnt to do that and everything changed when I became to feel useful. But this was helpful for another reason. It helped in my next job more than I thought, which was in a Neurological Intensive Care Unit. I used to be a very ''weak'' person in the sense that I was fainting every time I was seeing a person having a seizure or having a painful injury. So obviously I wasn't going to be any good to a patient if I was fainting. But because I become used, sort of speak, with a degree of patient suffering, I found it easier to adapt to see patients having awful injuries coming straight away from ED or surgical theatres (for the record, I almost fainted when seeing patient intubation). But this prepared me for the next step which was to witness a cardiac surgery and bypass (basically I witnessed a patient being cut in half with the surgeons digging inside his body and try to lift the heart and put some ''tissues'' inside him to deal with the bleeding. My family couldn't believe that I was able to see this after always telling me I can't be a doctor because I am too soft. So for me, my work experience did help me to grow as a person and gain a lot more confidence in myself but I appreciate volunteering just as much but for different reasons.

I thought it was only me who thought about work experience in that way!

I did both volunteering and hospital work experience. I actually found I really enjoyed and learnt a lot from my hospital work experience as I got to shadow some really amazing doctors and surgeons. But I am really aware that seeing a doctor work from 8am-6pm is only a small part of their day. I would also say that after 1 week of hospital work experience I didn’t really learn anything new, I more just saw the same things in different scenarios. I also know quite a few people who didn’t get to do/ see as much during their work experience and I believe I just got extremely lucky and managed to get a place with the right people that were happy to explain every procedure and let me ask questions.

So so grateful for all of this

Keep at it Ali, it's only a matter of time. Too much love, YC.

I'm just about to have 3 interviews in UK Med Schools and I'm a graduate Diagnostic Radiographer currently working. the work experience I had was with a few consultants at my hospital and I found it incredibly interesting and useful because as a fellow professional I could understand a lot of what was happening. On occasion they would ask my opinion on a scan or an x-ray and I felt a little more integrated into the team because of that. I can completely imagine that as an A-Level student these placements don't really leave you feeling like you've learnt a great deal, the pace of medicine is such that its hard to bring work experience students along a journey with you because they simply lack basic medical knowledge through absolutely no fault of their own! I also found it incredibly easy to approach colleagues for experience but I can't imagine how difficult gaining experience as an A-Level student is! Good luck with your future career, from what I've seen of you on this channel I really think you're going to make a fantastic doctor. :)

Thank you so much for all these videos!

Another amazing video. Thanks for all your help

While I kinda agree with you, it depends on what your work experience has been like. In my work experience a doctor always took me with him and I got the chance to really see what doctor's actually do. Moreover, he had such a strong bound to his patients and always knew how to adapt to new situations. I also was impressed about his communication skills. 😂 since he always found a related topic to talk about either to ease the patient or simply to habe a little bit of small talk 😊

I guess what you said as ‘work experience’ is called shadowing here in Asia. I believe shadowing is really dependent on your relationship with the doctor. The doctor I shadowed was a good friend of my father, and I got to know him a lot whilst shadowing him, so throughout my time in the hospital, I thoroughly enjoyed it as he would be explaining to me the different conditions, and during operations he would be showing me what was going on. I truly wasn’t treated like a shadow, but rather a student. In fact, I was introduced to other doctors in the OT and before one operation began, that doctor was like ‘Where is our student?’ I did not feel out of place (besides the moments where the doctors would be having their inside jokes), and I did not get any eureka moments, but I knew then, that medicine is what I Am going to pursue.

@YahyeIbrahim

3 жыл бұрын

how is it going

Couldn't agree more with your views on work experience, especially my hospital work exp in Pakistan (hi-5 on that btw) made me feel like I really shouldn't be there. Also yessss 'the course of love' is sucha good read! Also love your vids and vlogs :)

For me, work experience exposed some of the issues within the medical industry and also gave me the opportunity to ask medical professionals a whole bunch of questions about the challenges and lifestyle impacts of the career. The issues exposed primarily relates to doctors who run their practise as a business, and those who are acutely aware of the social prestige - by carrying themselves with such superiority they negatively impact other members of staff by maker them feel lesser. The challenges faced by medical professionals often related to chronic and untreatable patients who made them feel powerless in the face of suffering, being overworked and burnt out, and struggling to have a family without sacrificing their career. By observing surgeries and consults from within the room, it gave me an understanding of the reality of the job - standing for hours for surgery, sitting for hours for consult after consult, the smell of surgery (I wasn't prepared for that one), the repetitiveness of specialist consults. These relatively minor cons of a career in medicine were useful to be aware of before entering the degree.

lovely ,good news .

Katherine is the best!!

Hey! Thank you for the amazing videos, they are all well thought out and well planned! Paul sounds like he is from Singapore

@rakshaaiyappan8193

5 жыл бұрын

@@aliabdaal Haha, we have a very unique accent

good information .

I sort of agree with you on the expectation of applicants to do hospital work experience and have moments of clarity that suddenly lead them to wanting to become a Dr. I can attest to spending 2 weeks on a ward following FY Doctors around when I was 16 being pretty much useless in terms of fully understanding the role and expectations of Doctors; is it an age thing? However, as a grad I've been working in a hospital for 3 years now in a HCA and more developed role where I've been able to work alongside Drs, Nurses and other Healthcare Professionals and I can tell you I've learnt an incredible amount and definitely feel more informed about my decision to pursue a place on a grad entry course. I don't really think I could take as much of an insight and relevant experience if I was volunteering in a different area as my paid role has allowed me to really get stuck in and develop skills and confidence in speaking to patients and contributing to their care rather than spending a small amount of time with patients on a semi-regular basis. Pros and cons of each I suppose!

I have never related to a video more than this one !

Hi thank you for this video! Really really helpful! Would you be able to do one on how to tackle an ethical scenario?

@annalise5168

6 жыл бұрын

Just really how to tackle an ethical scenario and apply the medical ethics to it too. Especially scenarios about choosing between two patients for an organ. Thank you 😊

how would you write about work experience on a personal statement?

Hiya, So I'm a graduate applicant and I've been a HCA for a year. I did my UG in Tropical Disease Biology, as such it was a logical and interesting step for me to undertake some work experience at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases/UCL HTD. To address your issue about the usefulness of work experience, I agree to an extent. No work experience or shadowing could prepare me for what it actually feels like to have done 12 hours of work, with no break, hearing patients screaming on NOFU, with a million and one things to do and not enough time/staff to do it. And then on top of that going to a code black and everything going into meltdown. It was only my HCA experience that did that. Anywho, I would argue the biggest most defining moment for am I really in for this was in London HTD. A doctor, who was very respected and was very good with his/her patients, had previously been stuck in until 11pm the night prior to isolate a patient. He/she honestly was at breaking point. They said to me that they had previously been in another career and then did medicine, like me, as a graduate. They said did I want kids? Because by the time I graduate I'd hardly see them due to the fact I'd be doing night shifts still as a junior doctor, that he/she only ever saw his/her partner when they slept at night, and if they did have a rare moment together that they'd be too shattered to do anything but sleep. They said how they could barely function at work but still had to come in every day. It really hit me hard how close this person had come to snapping, and how the commitment I was choosing was huge, especially as a graduate. When doctors usually say on a hospital ward are you prepared for it, its not all its cut out to be etc they usually say it whilst being seemingly happy, albeit stressed, in their current position and in no hurry to leave it. However, this persons account really made me realise I wasn't choosing a job, particularly in the field I want to do, its a life choice rather than a career choice. I think realistically, you're in the way on work experience. And much doesn't change when you're on clinical placement at med school- you're a nuisance. You're slowing the doctors down so you never end up doing the same amount of hours as someone thats qualified, and you've got next to no responsibility for what you're doing. So I get what you're saying in that how can work experience truly be an insight. None of us will truly know what being a doctor is like until our first week as an F1- (and even then thats questionable).

I like your video.. so many useful information x) I have a question, do you think doing an internship in an occupational therapy for 1 month abroad in a developing country to help others can be relevant for med school application?

Very helpful, thanks There should be mature applicants to medical school, cos I feel too old now after 18s and 19s was mentioned... Lol

I really appreciate your reflections toward the end of the video. I am based in the U.S. and I'm wondering why the system is so that is 4 years of undergrad and then 4 years of medical school here? I think it would be beneficial to provide an option for U.S. students to enter medical school as part of a 6 year program after high school. I volunteered in a hospital before uni. The most meaningful part of that experience was relating to the patients. My duty consisted mainly of transporting patients to and from their rooms for cardiology services. Years after uni (I studied something other than medicine in uni) I decided I wanted to consider medical school again. However, that wasn't my primary motivation. I wanted to find a job that would give me flexibility to purse something I'm truly passionate about while also opening an avenue to build clinical work experience in case I wanted to pursue medicine. I was accepted into a program working in a clinic where they would train me as a technician and medical scribe. It sounded ideal from the outside. I would work 4 days a week, 12 hour days. Most students accepted into the program had a background in emergency medicine (firefighters, nursing students, phlebotomists, paramedics). I was the odd ball. The program was geared to look very good as experience for applying to medical school or physician assistant school (which appears to be a growing trend here in the U.S.). The program was very intense. To say that in 3 weeks I was drawing blood and putting in IVs on real patients without prior experience before the program! Even though I did it and the very qualified trainers had full confidence I could graduate from the program, the amount of anxiety and stress turned out not to be worth the price I was paying psycho-physiologically. If I wanted to pursue medicine I would have to go through it, but I realized I didn't wanted medicine that bad to undergo the kind of sacrifice on my own health the program required. I witnessed how many co-workers had very poor health, were overworked, sleep deprived, and smoked or drank to cope. In principle, working in an urgent care (emergency medicine backbone) setting, reminded me of working in a kitchen or fast food restaurant. Although it was efficient and got patients in and out, it was focused on popping patients out with a prescription. Although I see a place for emergency medicine and prescriptions, the medicine I was drawn to, the one that attracted me years before in my volunteering days as a teenager was the relational side of the business. At the urgent care, I enjoyed the patient consultations, running the tests on the high tech machines, and actually trying to find the root cause of the problem. That's when I realized I was practicing on the wrong side of medicine. I really enjoyed working with very smart, quirky, focused, and passionate people on very hard problems and feeling the spirit of collaboration and teamwork. The serious nature of the work really pulled in a quality of human being who inspired me to pursue hard things that are worthwhile. I'll always remember that time when the president and chief medical officer came to welcome our humble class of seven during our training. He was a military veteran who recounted how the military places such great responsibility and accountability on young men and women entering the military at 17. In his experience the best of a person is brought out when faced with greater responsibility and accountability. I agree. He figured if the U.S. gives that level of trust and mentorship to up-and-coming soldiers, the same could be done in the health care setting to up-and-coming medical professionals. He said all worthwhile things worth pursuing are hard. This is something I recall on occasion when I am pursuing worthwhile things beyond medicine.

Is work experience that important for engineering at Cambridge?

What if you didnt get the opportunity of getting work experiance but have done volunteer works can I still apply to med school

At 9:40, Does ward buddy count as a medical experience or more like volunteer? I do it once a week for 4 hours, where I mainly talk to patients and assist them by picking up stuff. However, I'm not allowed to perform any medical tasks or ask for private information from patients

This man washes away any nerves I have like a hose on a dirty car

Could you do a video about talking about wider reading please? PS I have an interview at Churchill on the 5th and I'm terrified😬😆

@dylanmehew9909

6 жыл бұрын

Ali Abdaal Thank you, and I'm hoping so😆also, thank you for posting all of those BMAT questions on your website. I managed to get 6.8 in section 2 by doing them all😁I only got 4.1 in section 1 but I think that was down to the day rather than a lack of preparation, you certainly helped a great deal.

@dylanmehew9909

6 жыл бұрын

Ali Abdaal Thank you😁I'm hoping S1 hasn't screwed me over too much but I'm hoping to make up for it with my interview and the rest of my application is strong I think🤞🏻

Dude do you work for Abercrombie and Fitch or something?

@baburali8230

6 жыл бұрын

lol sorry I meant Abercrombie and Fitch*