Shadowing healthcare staff in a Hospital Review

I really enjoyed the experience of shadowing the staff at a hospital and gave me a valuable insight into the inner workings of a ward, from the porters, to nurses to doctors. I not only learnt a great deal about the roles of many of the different staff but I got to engage with the patients too, which helped my communication and listening skills and encouraged me even more to apply to medicine. The experience made me appreciate how important teamwork is within healthcare, and my time shadowing each of a nurse, occupational therapist and the doctors during my time there was responsible for that.

The majority of the time I felt very valued during my work placement here, all of the staff were friendly and helpful, and throughout my time shadowing they tried to make sure I made the most of it, whether this was inviting me to watch consultations between the staff or patients or sit in on minor surgeries. Although there were times of feeling awkward and on the outside compared to the rest of the staff, this was rare and only at the very beginning of the placement.

I received plenty of guidance from the staff during my placement, whether this was advice on how to talk to/get to know patients or advice for the future in terms of applying for medicine, the staff were very helpful. The fact that I was exposed during my shadowing to a variety of different healthcare professionals meant that I was provided with a wide range of guidance and support.

To an extent, the skills that I began to develop on this placement such as my communication, confidence and other skills formed the basis of all the skills I will need in my future of becoming a successful doctor. Participating in this experience proved that I not only had the potential to excel in those skills but also the ability to develop new ones. Above all this experience helped me come to the decision to study medicine.

The structure was mostly great, most of the time I knew who I was going to be shadowing and when. However the lack of a proper timetable did make it difficult to know exactly what I was supposed to be doing at certain times, and this made it difficult for staff that were unaware of myself doing work experience to provide me with advice on what I should be doing. Despite this I still managed to take loads of valuable insight away from the experience, and the lack of structure in some areas was not massively important.

The atmosphere was very positive in the ward that I did my work experience in, the morale of the staff was consistently high and I was surprised with how positive and upbeat many of the staff were, despite the challenges that being a healthcare professional and part of the NHS can present. Although the staff were serious as their jobs require, they tried to carry them out in a cheerful manner.

The staff at the hospital were very eager in learning about what I hoped to do in the future, and many of them tried to provide opportunities for me within the hospital which may enhance my experiences and increase my chances of being able to study medicine in the future. Although this was more of a shadowing experience, I did not receive any personal training exactly, but what I did take away from the experience was very useful.

Shadowing the staff throughout my time at the hospital gave me a profound day to day understanding of what it is like to have a full time role as those healthcare professionals. I was very eager to learn as much as I could from the doctors, nurses and other staff, and they were very receptive to any questions I had and tried to answer as informatively as possible to what it is like to have their job. I came away from the experience much more knowledgeable, particularly about being a doctor, and the highs and lows of having a full time job as one.

Being thrown right into the day to day workings of the ward meant I was really able to appreciate the culture of the NHS, as well as the staff that were working there. I got to speak to many patients who were really positive about the NHS and about how useful its been for them and how much respect they have for the staff that work their too. To a greater extent, I also witnessed first hand some of the issues of the NHS such as long wait times and a lack of beds to accommodate some new patients.

The content was extremely valuable in helping me decide to become a doctor. Everything from the staff to the patients made me even more so want to become a doctor, and I thoroughly enjoyed being able to witness healthcare professionals working first hand, as I had previously struggled to get work experience in a hospital. Particularly it was speaking and watching the doctors that truly made me realise that I also wanted to be a doctor, and I was able to speak of that insight when I applied to medicine.

I was not paid or reimbursed because it was very close to my school and home, and I was only 17 at the time. There was the offer of reimbursing my travel costs however the hospital was within a suitable walking distance so this was not an issue. I would never have wanted to be paid as the experience was invaluable!

The doctors did talk about conferences and activities similar to this, however they did not go into detail about this.

I would definitely recommend this insight to anyone interested in a career in healthcare, as it was not only enjoyable but extremely valuable in terms of learning about the role you'd be applying for as well as the environment you'd be working in. Although getting experience in a hospital can be difficult, I would suggest trying to push to get some as much as possible as it is a great experience to have had.