Medical, Dental & Veterinary Careers
There are a wide range of resources and courses available for anyone interested in a medical, dental or veterinary career. There are courses run by independent organisations as well as taster days at various universities. The websites listed below will give you further information and ideas.
One of the most important aspects of applying to these sectors is ensuring you have as much work experience as possible - with all types and ages of people. Think about opportunities to mentor younger children at school or to run clubs for younger year groups; maybe you can have a weekend job dealing with members of the public (shop, restaurant, bar-work etc) or volunteer at a charity shop. You might also be able to support a local care home or charity by offering your help once a week, or perhaps you have an elderly neighbour who would appreciate your help once a week. For veterinary careers, people skills are just as important as your love for animals, so the above ideas are helpful, or you can hunt out opportunities to work at local stables, farms, pet-rescue centres etc.
Free online work experience in these disciplines is widely available through organisations such as www.springpod.com and the Brighton and Sussex online opportunity that a number of students have enjoyed is here: https://bsmsoutreach.thinkific.com/courses/VWE
In addition to UK work experience you can find international internship opportunities with these firms: https://www.oysterworldwide.com/projects/internships/ and https://www.projects-abroad.co.uk/intern-abroad/
Veterinary & Animal Careers
www.rcvs.org.uk - Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons is the regulatory body for the UK veterinary profession
www.bvna.org.uk - British Veterinary Nursing Association
www.bva.co.uk - British Veterinary Association is the national representative body for the British veterinary profession
www.iat.org.uk - Institute of Animal Technology represents animal technicians who are responsible for the care and welfare of animals being bred for or used in research. Find out about entry requirements, training and qualifications, opportunities for employment and salaries on their website
www.bsava.com - The British Small Animal Veterinary Association
www.acpat.org - Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Animal Therapy; animal physiotherapy was established as a career in 1985 and a postgraduate qualification in veterinary physiotherapy became available at the Royal Veterinary College in 2000
www.apbc.org.uk - Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors
www.rspca.org.uk - The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals employs a wide range of staff; inspectors, education
advisers, wildlife, farm and research animal experts, press officers etc
www.apdt.co.uk - Association of Pet Dog Trainers
www.pdsa.org.uk - People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals
www.guidedogs.org.uk - Guide Dogs for the Blind Association; if you want to gain some useful experience then go to Volunteering for details of how you can get involved with this organisation as a volunteer
Medical Careers
www.stepintothenhs.nhs.uk - this NHS website is aimed at 14-19 year olds and includes careers information about every job in the NHS
www.healthcareers.nhs.uk - another good general resource about health careers in the NHS
https://graduates.nhs.uk/ - for more information about the NHS Graduate Training programmes
There are many online work experience options available through sites such as www.springpod.co.uk as well as independently run options such as this one from Brighton and Sussex https://bsmsoutreach.thinkific.com/courses/VWE
Volunteering is another great way to find out more about medical careers:
St John's Ambulance run a cadets schemes for 7-10 and 11-17 year olds and also have volunteer opportunities for university students. These schemes are a great way get hands-on experience. Find out more here: https://www.sja.org.uk/get-involved/young-people/cadets-ages-10-17/
There are also a range of short course opportunities, some with costs attached, for example:
www.bma.org.uk - has a great online publication Becoming a Doctor which covers courses, entry requirements for medical schools, funding arrangements, career structure
www.medschools.ac.uk has good online resources about where to study in the UK
www.themedicportal.com - a comprehensive guide to applying to medical schools in the UK and abroad
www.gmc-uk.org - General Medical Council
www.rcpsych.ac.uk - Royal College of Psychiatrists
www.csp.org.uk - the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
www.hpc-uk.org - the Health and Care Professions Council
www.nmc-uk.org - the website of the regulatory body for nursing and midwifery
www.rcn.org.uk - the Royal College of Nursing
www.rcm.org.uk - Royal College of Midwives
Careers in Dentistry
Free online work experience in Dentistry is available at www.springpod.co.uk.
www.bda.org - British Dental Association website includes details of the different jobs indentistry, qualifications and training, links to UK dental schools and information on working as a dentist in the UK and overseas
www.nhscareers.nhs.uk and www.stepintothenhs.nhs.uk also have good information about careers in dentistry
www.bos.org.uk - British Orthodontic Association site has useful information about orthodontic training on from dentistry
www.dta-uk.org - Dental Technicians Association