Volunteering & Work Experience

St John Ambulance Service (SJA) – Pre Hospital Care Work & Volunteering Experience

SJA – I attended weekly unit meetings where I learned about first aid and a range of other modules. I have completed 2 leadership courses within SJA, which has allowed me to be promoted to sergeant. This position allows me to take a more active role in my unit such as by leading drill sessions and some of the training modules. I attended cadet events such as remembrance day parades. After having completed my COFA (Cadet Operational First Aider) course in November 2022, I volunteered at several cadet events such as Birmingham Pride where I worked as a cadet first aider. In 2023 I completed 100 hours of Volunteering.

Volunteering at my unit as an NCO (Non-Commissioned Officer) has allowed me to build up my confidence and improved my ability to talk and instruct a large group of individuals of differing ages and levels of ability, which is key quality when working in a multidisciplinary team where you may need to take charge over a particular part of patient care. It has also helped me become more patient and more intentional in the way I communicate to make sure my message is successfully conveyed to everyone. Working on events meant I was often put into teams of first aiders I may have never met before for extended periods. This pushed me to step out of my comfort zone and get better at talking and working together with strangers in high-pressure environments, this I find would be particularly advantageous to have practice doing for when I may need to work with other medical professionals to provide patient care when I become a Doctor.

Primary Care – Stourport Medical Centre and Minor Surgery – Kidderminster Medical Centre — shadowed Dr Fanous

I shadowed Dr Fanous at Stourport Medical Centre in a primary care setting, where I watched him carry out his in-person and online consultation

Dr Fanous Stourport and Kidderminster Medical Centres

I shadowed GP Dr Rafik Fanous in the minor surgery clinic at Kidderminster Medical Centre. Here I watched and assisted when he removed moles, cysts and similar lesions surgically during his scheduled minor surgical and clinic appointments. I also shadowed Dr Fanous at Stourport Medical Centre in a primary care setting, where I watched him carry out his in-person and online consultations. I found I enjoyed my time at the minor surgeries clinic as it allowed me to see several dermatological problems. I particularly liked hearing the doctor’s thought process behind his care plans as even patients who came in for the same procedure e.g cyst removal, would be given slightly different treatment plans depending on the location of the cyst, type of cyst, number, shape and size of cyst etc. This I found highlighted to me the importance of patient-specific care and the importance of carrying out a friendly and thorough consultation beforehand to ensure that this is done effectively. Similarly at Stourport Medical Centre, I found the same to be true. In addition to that, seeing both in-person and online consultations showed me the importance of clear and concise communication such as clear pronunciation and tone, effective hand gesture usage and open body language to provide reassurance to patients. Between these 2 places, I carried out 40 hours of work experience over approximately 2 weeks.

Wotcester Royal Hospital A&E

Emergency Care – Wotcester Royal Hospital A&E – Talks with an A&E Consultant – I had a remote Zoom session with Dr Baljinder Singh where we discussed different medical scenarios and assessed the best ways to approach them. This involved us thinking about the 4 pillars of medical ethics and the GMC guide to good medical practice and how we should keep them in mind when approaching clinical situations. This session was abundantly important as it allowed me to think through and really discuss some of these ideas and how to correctly implement them in my approach to future medical problems without the high-stress environment that comes with in-person work experience placements.

In Hospital Care – City Hospital Birmingham – Acute Medical Unit (AMU)

Birmingham City Hospital – I completed a 5 day long work experience at City Hospital. There I would report in at 8 am and watch the ward rounds in the acute medical ward in the morning and observe the doctors debriefing and delegating tasks afterwards. I would then spend the rest of the day in the acute medical ward, SDEC, A&E or the respiratory clinic where I would shadow doctors while they checked up on patients and carried out their consultations until I left at 3 pm. During this time I was placed under the care of Dr Sarb Clare and Dr. May Yan but spent the majority of my time shadowing doctors working on the ward.

From this experience, I was not only able to compare the similarities and differences between healthcare in England and abroad (as mentioned in overseas experience) but also see the practices and systems play out in real time while watching the different medical staff perform their various tasks. Constantly moving from one ward to another, helped me understand how hectic hospital life can be and after discussing issues such as the junior doctor’s strikes and the NHS budget cuts with some of the real-life staff that are being affected by it, I found I was better informed and more confident in my decision to pursue a career in medicine as it allowed me to better understand the difficulty of pressuring such a career but also that it was something I would be able to manage.

Asiri Hospital – Sri Lanka – Overseas Health Care Experience

Asiri Hospital Matara – In my year 11 summer holidays, I completed 40 hours of work experience over 5 days in August. There, I was able to observe several doctors and nurses as they performed a variety of procedures. I visited the Emergency Care Unit, Surgical, Medical and Paediatric Wards during that time.

Completing this work experience was particularly valuable as it allowed me to see the similarities in medical practice in two very dissimilar countries such as England and Sri Lanka. This included the importance placed on the multidisciplinary team when providing high-quality patient care and similar routines to the care given e.g. daily morning ward rounds. Looking back after completing my work experience at Birmingham City Hospital, the differences between public and private care were also shown to me as I found that the private healthcare experience at Asiri Hospital though less hectic compared to a public hospital like City Hospital, was still busy with patients. This I found taught me that regardless of where you work, public or private, neither would be easy and both would require just as much determination and grit to work in.

MPM Medicals UK – Skin Clinic – UK Private sector Specialized skincare Clinic
ICAM – International College of Aesthetic Medicince – Training Centre for Doctors and Nurses

In UK Private healthcare setting at MPM Aesthetic Medicals and Affiliated International College of Aesthetic Medicine (ICAM) training centre –
I completed a few days of work experience.
At this Medical Aesthetic, specialized skin clinic and Training centre I was able to observe procedures such as mole removals by laser, PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma)
preperation and treatments by injections and Microneedling, Toxins “Botox” and Dermal filler treatments being carried out.

This experience showed me the parallels and shared practices that are shared between both clinical and cosmetic care such as thorough explanations of the treatments
beforehand with clear discretion of potential side effects of any procedure taking place. Seeing the cosmetic side of dermatology demonstrated to me the importance
of considering people’s aesthetic preferences to provide the best outcome possible.