NHS Work Experience
We’re offering free work experience programme over a 3 day period. A series of webinars structured around what you want to hear, will be delivered by experts in the NHS and beyond.
What are the webinars?
On point – short and make sense
Connect – directly with experts
Right now – either live or on social media
Why are we doing them?
Research shows that biggest factors for poor health are opportunities for work, education and the environment. We want to do our bit to make a difference
We need to be creating fair employment for all
Together with NHS partners in NW London, Hiyos is offering a jam packed 3 day online programme of NHS work experience. The programme not only gives the opportunity to meet clinicians and administrators and hear their experiences and personal stories, but also gives the chance to work on projects together. We hope attendees will get a broad and full understanding of how the NHS works and simultaneously of all the different roles within it.
So why are we running this programme?
This is part of NHS Northwest London project to reduce health inequalities. Unquestionably, employment is a major factor for poor health outcomes. So we’re putting together a series of webinars with our partners to give people the opportunity to experience what it’s like working in different areas of the NHS. We hope to show that as a result, we’ll see better health outcomes.
Marmot Review 10 years On – Institute of Health Equity
Research shows for every 10% increase in employment, healthy life expectancy increases by 5 years.
The NHS is undoubtedly the largest employer in England with around 1.6m people. However, it’s not just doctors and nurses! There are also lots of other clinical and non-clinical roles from paramedics to porters, ENT consultants to estates management. So there’s plenty to choose from. In short, this course gives an insight into all types of different roles.
All things considered, the NHS is a fab place to work! Besides working with talented staff and providing outstanding care for patients, you can be part of a workforce with good career progression and training opportunities. Significantly, the promotion of diversity and equality is at the heart of the NHS workforce.
NHS plans to recruit 50,000 more nurses, 6,000 more GPs and 26,000 additional clinical roles in the next few years.
Kings Fund
436,000 people volunteered for NHS first responder programme. Volunteering gives new insights, skills and experience.
Workforce
Innovation
Hospitals & Clinics
WHO
But who is the NHS Work experience programme for?
Our programme is for anyone interested in learning more about career opportunities in the NHS and healthcare generally.
Students
University applications generally require you to have work experience. But inevitably, you are often left to arrange your own work experience and that can be difficult to find. Also it is often of variable quality. So what do you do? Firstly, join our webinar programme! We will group together those applying for medicine, nursing, physiotherapy etc., so that it’s as relevant as it can be for you. Then we’ll help you with your CV, personal statements and interview practice.
Those changing career or looking for work
We’ll share how the NHS works and obviously what work is out there in it. Also we can share ideas on mapping transferable skills. Overall, the programme will give you insights to help identify the type of work to apply for and how to get your ideal job.
Volunteering
Volunteering is a chance to give something back to your community, at the same time building your skills and having new experiences. We’ll work with you to identify what you want to get out of your role and we’ll also help you find the right places to look.
So it’s welcome to all…
We welcome applicants from all walks of life, and in order that you to get the best out of the programme, we’ll group those with shared interests. We are particularly keen to receive applications from those with those who are struggling to get work experience such as those from ethnic minority backgrounds and those with disabilities. In fact, the only requirement is to be aged 16 or over.
Above all, we want everyone to have the opportunity.
WHAT
What does it involve then?
A fun, interactive 3 days where you get to meet staff, others on the programme and also work on a digital health project.
| Day 1 | Speaker | Special Topics |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Speaker | Special topics |
| 10:00 | Introduction | The programme & assessments |
| 10:20 | How the NHS works | How organisations collaborate |
| 10:30 | GP | History Taking |
| 10:45 | Practice Nurse | Immunisation |
| 11:00 | Healthcare Assistant | ECG |
| 11:15 | Consultant Psychiatrist | Depression Screening |
| 11:30 | Physician Associate | Respiratory examination |
| 11:45 | Care Navigator | Signposting |
| 12:00 | Lunch | |
| 12:30 | Management | Who does what |
| 12:45 | Clinical Pharmacist | Over the counter Medication |
| 13:00 | Digital Health | The future |
Expert speakers will share a day in their lives and their personal stories alongside fun facts. And of course, you’ll have the chance to ask questions!
| Day 2 | Speaker | Special Topics |
|---|---|---|
| 10:00 | Consultant Cardiologist | Examining the heart |
| 10:15 | Consultant in A&E | Resuscitation |
| 10:30 | Consultant Surgeon | Robotic surgery |
| 10:45 | Careers Advisor | CV Writing |
| 11:00 | Careers Advisor | |
| 11:15 | Careers Advisor | Interview Skills |
| 11:30 | Medical Student | University Application |
| 11:45 | Group work | Facilitated |
| 12:15 | Lunch | |
| 12:45 | Use of social medial in health | Facilitated |
Share your experience and learn from others on the programme
| Day 3 | Speaker | Special Topics |
|---|---|---|
| 10:00 | Presentations from students | Project work |
| 11:00 | Feedback on Projects | |
| 12:00 | Close |
Interactive and fun with insights on digital health
Wide range of clinicians and admin staff to learn from
Project work to help support what you have learned
HOW
It’s easy to join and we’re pretty confident you’ll enjoy it and will also learn lots…
Sign up – it’s free
Signing up is really easy. We’ll send you reminders and of course you can add the dates to your calendar. You can also sign up to our newsletter. Simples.
Attending online
We promise it will be fun and interactive, so do share your experiences. We have some fanatic speakers who have given up their valuable time to share insights, but the people attending will have a wealth of experience too. There will be plenty of time to get to know one another and learn from each other.
Project work
This is a project using social media and webinars to improve healthcare. So we’d like for you to try your hand at sharing what you learn by producing social media posts and a short blog on some interesting things you have learnt on this programme for others. Don’t worry if you are not an expert, we’ll talk you through it and will be there to help.
Face to face placements
There will be a limited number of face to face placements in general practice and hospital settings after the course.
Research & evaluation
We would like to evaluate the impact of this programme on your health. Indeed we are working with our research colleagues to produce a report of outcomes and hope to have publications in journals to share what we have learnt. Please do share your feedback, your responses will be anonymous of course. Healthcare is changing rapidly, you can help shape it.
Project
Project
We give you the opportunity to apply what you have learnt. This will help you learn communication skills which are essential when applying for jobs in the form of covering letters and personal statements.
Basically there are two parts. Firstly, making a video post and secondly writing a blog post about one of the sessions that you found interesting. We have attached some guidelines for you to follow along with top tips. Try and share a descriptive personal story. We will discuss some of the best examples on the final day and will also post the best blogs and posts on our website and social media.
Practice storytelling, has been around since the dawn of time and is a powerful way of communicating your message. Be descriptive, describing senses and your feelings – but don’t over do it. Stories make it easier for others to remember are engaging and help with understanding. Others can either relate to your story or you can help teleport them to your world. They must be authentic, concise and don’t be afraid to use a little humour. Finally, you don’t have to share your own stories you can use stories of others and make analogies. Give it a try. It takes a bit of practice. By all means run them by a critical friend.
Blog post template
And finally, here is a blog post template that you may want to use to structure your content. Pick a theme and weave it into your blog story.
Learn more about roles below
