Medical Lab Assistant Placement | "By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail." – Benjamin Franklin.

First things first, I realise my last post was way too long so I promise to keep this one short and sweet J From the title most of you have probably gathered that I will be talking about my medical lab assistant placement…

Like I’ve previously mentioned, it was never in my plan to pursue a career in Biomedical Science but it just sort of happened. I really wanted to study medicine (well I still do) so most of the things I do in my free time are in preparation for that. It’s no secret that getting into medicine is extremely difficult and medical schools want more than just good grades from their applicants. They want to see that you’ve gone above and beyond in your quest to study medicine and one way to illustrate this is by doing voluntary work and lots of it!

Like many other aspiring med students, I too wanted to prove my seriousness in wanting to study medicine. I emailed over 100 departments across a dozen hospitals pleading with them to let me volunteer at their hospital. Volunteering in hospitals is not as easy as it sounds. Again, I’ll have to dedicate a whole different post on how to get a volunteering placement at a hospital. I promise to share some of my secrets so more people can secure themselves a volunteering placement.

Long story short, I managed to get a few voluntary placements at my local hospitals Alhamdulillah. Some of my titles included: “Dementia Buddy and Patient Champion”. I dedicated three hours every week to spend some time with patients who were bed bound and stuck in a miserable and dull hospital. It was rewarding to bring some joy and colour to their, otherwise gloomy, day.

The Hospital began to recognise all the hard work volunteers were doing so they had many award nights to celebrate us. Not long after one of these award night, I was contacted about job opportunities at the NHS. Most of the roles were administrative but then I noticed that they also had a few posts for people wishing to work in a pathology lab within the hospital. I thought this was perfect. It would put my degree to good use and I’d be working in a hospital environment which should be helpful towards my medicine application. I applied immediately.

But there was a catch… It wasn’t as simple as filling out a form and being invited for an interview to measure my competency for the role. I had to do 6 weeks unpaid work first. “Think of it as training” they said. I agreed, what do I have to lose?

I started my laboratory placement at Newham University Hospital and I actually really enjoyed it. I learnt a lot and really polished up on skills I know employers would love. Now that I’ve completed my placement I’m just waiting to come across a job vacancy and apply!

This may seem like a lengthy process to some but success is never attained over time. Things take time but so long as you’re moving forward and trying, who cares? Many of my friends I’ve graduated with would kill to have some experience in a lab, even if it means working for FREE! It’s brutal out there so never turn down an opportunity even if you think it’s below you.