Work experience is now fully booked for September 2023. Applications are now closed for this month. Thank you.
COVID vaccinations are no longer mandatory, but it is advisable to be double vaccinated before carrying out work experience.
We offer work experience placements at Darent Valley Hospital, in Dartford, and are now able to offer limited placements at Queen Mary's Hospital, in Sidcup.
For work experience placements, please consider which of the following options most closely fits your needs and follow the instructions on how to express an interest. We will not be able to consider applications where you do not fit the criteria or do not follow the correct procedure.
Work experience placements are, in the first instance available to students within the local area. All dates must be cleared with school/college before applying as once booked cannot be rearranged to suit school hours. Once placement has begun we are unable to move you to different departments.
If you are interested in a work experience placement, please complete all questions included in the online application form. Send your CV and strong supporting statement stating why you would like the placement to tracy.brooker@nhs.net
Another option is volunteering, helping to provide valuable support to patients and staff. This involves non-clinical care and other tasks, and is another way of getting an idea of what it is like to work in the health and social care sector.
- Applications for work experience at Darent Valley Hospital will only be accepted via the online form. Please complete all sections of the form, area of interest is any department you would wish to be placed within the hospital. Once submitted the form is sent direct to the Work Experience Placement Facilitator. We are unable to accommodate students below the age of 17 at date of placement.
- Placements are for one week, Monday-Friday and are one placement, per student, per year due to the volume of applicants.
- Maternity, Pharmacy and Haemotology Departments do not accept placement.
- All Paediatric placements run from Tuesday to Thursday only in Paediatric outpatients based in the Children's Resource Centre. There will be no access to wards for work experience students.
Work experience is unpaid and we are unable to offer expenses. Unfortunately, we cannot offer feedback if you are unsuccessful in your application.
Placements available
- Clinical placements are in a shadowing capacity only.
- Physiotherapy accepts school students who are considering Physiotherapy as a career and those who wish to train at university and need the experience for their application (proof maybe required). Placement within the Physiotherapy environment will give students an insight into General Medicine, Trauma Orthopaedics, Stroke and MSK. Students will be offered 3-days shadowing experience held in April and August. To find out more and to apply please email dvh.physiotherapy@nhs.net.
- Occupational Therapy offer placements for students applying to university. If you are interested in learning more about a career in Occupational Therapy and are considering applying for a place at University, then you need to submit your application via email to dgn-tr.occupationaltherapy@nhs.net. We would be grateful if you could provide a CV or some further career information supporting your application and answer the following questions:
- Why are you interested in learning more about OT?
- What would you like to gain from time spent in the department?
- Which Universities are you considering applying to?
- Nutrition and Dietetics offer placements for students applying to university. If you are interested in learning more about Nutrition and Dietetics, and are considering applying for a place at university, then you need to submit your work experience request via email to: dgn-tr.dvhdietitians@nhs.net. We would be grateful if you could provide a CV or some further career information supporting your application, and answer the following questions:
- Why are you interested in learning more about Nutrition and Dietetics?
- What would you like to gain in your time spent with the department?
- Which universities/courses are you considering applying for?
- The Radiology Department accepts students on a one day placement to assist with their university application.
- The Pathology Department only accept students to assist with a university application or undergraduates looking to gain discipline-specific experience. Placement within the Pathology department will give students an insight into Central Specimen Reception, Biochemistry, Haematology, Blood Transfusion and Microbiology. A maximum of 5 days placement can be offered depending on the students application.
- Maternity & Pharmacy Departments do not accept placement.