Work Experience

How to reflect on your work experience?
If you are considering applying for a healthcare degree next year, you will most likely be carrying out some form of work experience. Whether this may be for medicine, nursing, pharmacy or other degrees, it is important to carefully reflect on your experience after, to ensure you can write and talk about this in your application.
Think about what you learnt, not just what you saw
The admissions teams are more interested in the things you learnt (such as skills and qualities) as opposed to just what you saw. It shows you were being proactive during your work experience, and you fully understand what the career is like.
Link it back to your desired field
It can be quite difficult to acquire work experience in the healthcare field, as there are often many safeguarding restrictions. However, even experiences such as a part-time job and volunteering (like in a charity shop) can be useful. Place more emphasis on the transferrable skills you picked up, like teamwork and communication. Ensure to link it back to being a healthcare professional, and how these skills would be useful in their roles.
Complete further research on anything you found interesting
If you are able to get some healthcare work experience, you may come across a healthcare role that interests you, or a medical condition you find fascinating. This is particularly relevant if your work experience involves shadowing a doctor or nurse. Carrying out further research, via books or articles, shows the universities that you are truly passionate about healthcare, and that you are taking the initiative to learn more.