Student Review

It was fantastic, I have always been made to feel very welcome in hospitals which helps a lot when it comes to settling in. The patients are often happy to talk to us students which also makes us feel more at ease. It was always good fun because the other people in the hospital were a pleasure to be around.

I felt like my colleagues - whether they be Doctors, nursing staff or other health care professionals - wanted us to be there, and felt that our contributions on the wards were useful. This made it a lot more appealing to want to help them, and in turn help patients.

My supervisors have always been brilliant at supporting us and guiding us in how we should act on placement, where we should go to get the best learning experience, and particularly, in taking time out of their day to teach us - even if it is not something that they're required to teach us.

I often would start placement for ward rounds at around 8 in the morning, and these would often last all morning. The ward rounds were a good chance to meet lots of patients on the ward. The afternoon usually started at around 1pm and would last until around 5pm. This makes for long and busy days!

We were given a fair amount of responsibility on placements. At the time I felt like we were made to feel that we were able to have the freedom to contribute where we could, whilst being fully supported by those around us - if we ever felt out of our depth they would help us.

The skills that I developed and the training that I received will help me invaluably when it comes to studying for exams, whether they be written exams or practical. After I graduate and I start working, I will call upon the experience that I gained during my days of placement to guide my decision making processes.

There was a positive learning experience, the staff were very friendly and everyone was encouraged to make their opinions known, whether everyone agreed with them or not. I think that this is an important step in creating a positive atmosphere in an office - one that is conducive to learning.

The timetables are always well organised - you know where you should be and when, which is very helpful when you are planning your time on placement. I think that being told where to go means that you don't miss out on certain aspects of your learning which may occur if you are organising it yourself.

I feel that there was a lot of investment made in me - whether that was by Doctors, nurses or other healthcare professionals. If I ever felt that I didn't understand something, they would take me to one side and explain it to me, and always took time to answer any questions that I had for them.

Future employment prospects are extremely appealing - I would be recommending placements to other students and think that I will be telling them to spend as much time at placement as possible, because it is definitely the best place to learn. I would hope that I will be able to have future placement opportunities there too.

Amongst fellow placement students and colleagues there was a good social scene - we would all eat lunch together and would often go for coffee together during the day when we were having a break from clinical tasks. This is a great way to get to know each other better.

The cost of living and socialising in the area that I worked in was no different to what I was expecting - the rent was around £400 per month which is not awful, and the shops in the area are fairly normal for a city within the United Kingdom, I thought.

The nightlife in the area that I worked was great fun - there was always something going on in the evening time, so we were never bored as there was definitely something to do. I think that the nightlife would definitely be something that I would recommend to others as it didn't disappoint!

There was plenty of opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work - particularly within the hospital itself, and there were also lots of opportunities in the area that surrounded the hospital which was great for when we left the hospital because there were still opportunities for us to get involved in activities outside of work.