Getting experience

What is getting experience?

Getting experience is an opportunity for young people, those looking for a career change or those who are unemployed to gain experience in a workplace and learn about a role or organisation. It provides you with useful skills, experience and knowledge which can help you gain a job.

Our getting experience opportunities are open to all individuals thinking about a career in health and care and is available across all our employers. There are several placement areas, such as support services, nursing, medical, therapies, healthcare science, psychology, midwifery and so much more.

Our placement offers and opportunities change frequently so please check back regularly if you are looking for something specific or please use the contact form here if you would like a placement that we currently do not have listed.

We offer virtual and face-to-face sessions, depending on safeguarding, clinical environment, and work pressures. Our numbers are limited for our face-to-face offers and only available to Northamptonshire residents.

Getting experience directory

Here you will find our getting experience directory with the professions that we offer placements in. The offer will vary from face-to-face, virtually or event-based.

Our getting experience directory

Allied health professional	Coming soon!
Ambulance service	Coming soon!
Dental	Available - virtual
Doctors	Coming soon! Available - virtual
Health informatics	Coming soon!
Healthcare science	Coming soon!
Healthcare support worker	Coming soon!
Management	Coming soon!
Medical associate professions	Available - virtual
Midwifery	Available - virtual
Nursing	Available - virtual
Pharmacy	Coming soon!
Psychological professions	Coming soon!
Public health	Coming soon!
Wider healthcare team	Coming soon!
Social care	Coming soon!

If a placement for a profession you are interested in isn’t listed, please contact us. We will always try to offer a placement where we can, but the health and care of our patients and the current work environment will always be considered first, we will however try to offer an alternative where we can.

If you’re interested in a role, but unsure which profession it sits within, please explore the 350 roles available. 

Getting experience – where could it take you…

You can use experience in many ways. It helps you gain confidence, dispels myths about a profession and gives you insight and experience into a career. This allows you to make an informed decision about your next or first steps.

Learnlive

LearnLive is our virtual platform that has pre-recorded videos that can be used to support getting experience and is completely free for schools. You can access live and pre-recorded broadcasts at any time, plus there are other great ways to interact with us.

We are always adding to our library, so please check back.

Virtual getting experience videos available

Classroom takeover! Clinical Psychology	Pre-recorded	Coming soon!
Mental Health nursing in the NHS	Pre-recorded	Coming soon!
I want to be a Midwife	Pre-recorded	Coming soon!
Nursing and Midwifery	Live broadcast	Coming soon!
Allied Health Professions	Live broadcast	Coming soon!
Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy	Live programme	Coming soon!
Ambulance service	Live programme	Coming soon!
I’m a Medic – Get me out of here!	Live programme	Coming soon!
Spotlight on Social Care	Live programme	Coming soon!
We’re not just Doctors and Nurses!	Live programme	Coming soon!

 

Useful links

We have pulled together some useful links for getting experience: 

Patient journey to GP practice

This app gives new international GPs an immersive insight into how a GP practice in the UK operates from a patient’s perspective

Reflective diary for aspiring medics

Information for those who would like to know more information about becoming a medic.

Allied Health Professionals Virtual Reality

This link will put you in the room with many different clinicians through virtual reality.

Dr You | NHS Talent Academy

A website full of information about those wishing to find out more about becoming a doctor. 

Step into the NHS | help young people discover NHS careers

There are over 350 plus careers in the NHS, take a look a them all here.

What next? What career live

Not sure what career you would like to do? Have a read through the guidance from 'what next?'

Getting experience

Click on the link above for advice on work experience in the NHS. 

I want to be a medic!

We offer some virtual opportunities for those considering a medical career, such as: 

BSMS virtual experience

This course provides a 'virtual' experience for those looking to apply to medical school. You will be introduced to the NHS before exploring the roles and skill sets of six different medical specialists. Along the way, you will also consider some of the challenges and wider issues doctors face. 

Observe GP - Interactive video platform

Is an alternative to getting experience for aspiring medics aged 16 and over, who are living in the UK. It is a free interactive video platform providing insights into the role of a GP and the wider primary care team.

Medic Mentor

Medic Mentor’s virtual experience programme is completely free and offered over a specific period  so you can demonstrate a commitment to learning about life as a doctor or a dentist from the comfort of your own home. You will follow several patient journeys through primary, secondary, and tertiary care, using standardised patients, best clinical practice and use of environments that mirror the NHS working environments over a 6-month programme. You will receive certification of attendance upon successful completion of the programme. This will provide you with 42 hours of certified work experience. 

Dental Mentor

You will follow a patient’s journey over a 4-month period as they go from diagnosis, to treatment and follow up, that is provided by qualified and practicing dentists here in the UK.  This will provide you with 24 hours of valuable work experience and a certificate at the end.

FREE LIVE insight and UCAS Conferences

Students who register for the getting experience programme are also invited to attend our popular “Get into Medicine” conference absolutely free. This conference covers the A-Z of the application process and informs students on how they can stand out and make their application competitive. 

 

Careers guide: allied health professionals

Check out the videos which show allied health professional careers with a spotlight on some that you may never of heard of!

Advice for students

Applying for a health and care placement should mean you have a real interest in the sector. If you are unsure, please check out our LearnLive broadcasts before you apply for a placement or contact us. This makes sure we give placements based on interest. We also ask for evidence that you are studying subjects suitable for your career interest.

Making the most out of your experience

• Please dress smartly, be on time and willing to learn
• Ask lots of questions; the more you ask the more it will show your interest and the more you will learn
• Make notes, offer to help and follow health and safety procedures

 

Youth Employment UK has lots of great resources, opportunities and free training to support your learning and experience of the world of work here.

Advice for career leads

We are currently in the process of restarting some of our getting experience placements. This will be conducted in phases taking into consideration pressures across services and current guidance around COVID. A full statement will be shown on our website when restrictions ease and we allow getting experience placements to recommence fully.

We are still adding and improving the information available on our website, please do check back regularly for updates.

Find out more information about the following by visiting their dedicated information sections:

• Gatsby Benchmarks
• Careers in health
• Careers in social care 
• Getting experience
• Events
• NEXTGEN Ambassadors

If you have a question that cannot be answered from the information available, please use the contact us form.

Tips for personal statements:

• Personal statements: How to get experience during the pandemic
• Writing your personal statement | Undergraduate

Advice for staff / managers

We are currently in the process of restarting some of our getting experience placements. This will be conducted in phases taking into consideration pressures across services and current guidance around COVID. A full statement will be shown on our website when restrictions ease and we allow getting experience placements to recommence fully.

Please give your time where you can by joining our NEXTGEN Ambassador programme. The programme is about staff inspiring young people and others already working with us. They can offer getting experience opportunities, first-hand experiences and information on roles across health and care by sharing your their knowledge.  

You can choose the activities you would like to be involved in and all we ask it a commitment of one event per year, which could be as little as an hour. 

If you want to make a difference, help inspire and champion the work you do, joining our new ambassador programme is a great way to do this! Head over to our NEXTGEN Ambassador page to sign up!

Click here to find out more about our NEXTGen ambassador programme

Advice for parents

We are currently in the process of restarting some of our getting experience placements. This will be conducted in phases taking into consideration pressures across services and current guidance around COVID. A full statement will be shown on our website when restrictions ease and we allow getting experience placements to recommence fully.

In the meantime, please refer to our parents and carers page for further information. Please visit our careers page for guidance on the many careers in health and care, or to our getting experience directory for current and upcoming programmes.

If you have a question that cannot be answered from the information available, please use the contact us form.

Contact us form