Shadowing Placement Review

I enjoyed my insight to an extent. I undertook this after the first year of my medicine degree so I was quite restricted in what I could do but I think it was still quite a good learning experience in watching the doctors and how they perform their medical practice, and I picked up key things from this

I did feel quite valued by my colleagues. Though this did not come from me doing a lot of work to help them in any way, it rather came from the fact that a group of doctors really took me under their wing and did their best to explain to me a lot of new concepts.

I was given a lot of guidance by the doctors supervising me in terms of explanations of the medical procedures they were doing and why these were necessary and they also went quite in depth and linked it well to my medicine course at uni, which, I think, was very useful to me.

On a daily basis, I was never too busy myself but there was always a lot to do as there was so much happening in the hospital that I had to constantly be making notes and I did not really want to miss out on anything as all of it could be vital.

I was not given responsibility in this placement but this was entirely understandable as a hospital is quite a high risk place in which you need people with excellent decision making skills and professionals and I was simply not there yet, as much as I would like to be in the future.

I think that I actually learnt quite a lot from this placement. I obviously learnt about different medical procedures, which I went home and researched more on. Furthermore, I also found out more about different illnesses and I did further research on this. Independent research was one of the skills I developed greatly from this.

Generally, there was quite a friendly atmosphere on lunch breaks as I got on really well with the staff and I believe that I became quite good friends with them. The atmosphere was much more serious throughout the day as we dealt with serious issues pertaining to human health and serious illnesses.

I think the placement was set up quite well, in the context that it was in a hospital, quite a hectic environment, so not everything could be planned for, but the team of doctors I was with did their best to use all situations to help me and further my knowledge of medicine.

I think that in terms of personal training and development, the doctors that I was with certainly helped me a lot in terms of how to succeed in the medical field and also they gave me advice on doing my degree and how to not get too stressed out over it.

Of course, medicine is a highly competitive industry so I do not think my internship has improved any future employment prospects here at all. However, this internship has provided me with knowledge to extend what I already know and this will perhaps make me a stronger candidate, in comparison to others.

There was a good social scene and a good friendship between me and the group of doctors that were supervising me. This made the experience much more fun as I was with people I got along with and so I felt more welcomed into the environment, helping me learn from them more.

The cost of living was quite high but I was able to travel to work everyday and the internship covered my travel costs so this did not cost anything for me. Furthermore, the journey was not long at all. I did not really get to scout out any socialising opportunities in the area.

I did not really get to experience the nightlife in the area I worked. The hours were very long for the doctors so I felt quite tired after the day had ended and I simply wanted to rest, rather than go out and experience the nightlife so I can not have an opinion on this.

There were not really many opportunities to get involved in outside of work. The doctors had to work long hours there and there was simply just not ample time to socialisie outside of work or for there to be related activities outside of work. I did get the chance to attend a medical conference, however.