Experience is required for health care professionals so there is less chance of them making a mistake. A pharmacist could go a pharmacist apprentiship in which learn how a pharmacist operates and the different medicines involved. They could also work as an undergraduate. This is voluntary course they go on in which they learn from other qualified pharmacists. For nurses, they can volunteer at hospitals or the elderly home to get experience. Working here would give them good practice when becoming actual nurses as they would be the type of people who they would look after when they become a qualified nurse.
Shadowing doctor is a process that involves someone who wants to become a doctor to follow someone who is a fully qualified doctor. This allows them to observe the roles a doctor would carry out and learn from them. This also allows a person to ask the doctor and question they may have so they can improve their knowledge. Having more experience allows someone within the healthcare sector a better chance to work in private medical centres such as Bupa and Axapp as people who go to private medical centres are usually rich people therefore they want someone who has a lot of knowledge who can help them so they are likely to go there again.
Training and Development:
To become a healthcare professional a person is required to go through certain training in order to become better qualified. A nurse would undergo a three-year training course in general nursing. This is a training course which is half practical i.e. learning from an over-study and the other half is theoretical i.e. written exams and questions. In this training the nurse learns how to take care of patients such as giving them medicine. They must have also have at least 12 months post-registration experience. This is a nursing programme in which the nurse are required to attend in which they learn how to take care of patients and the different medicine required that a patient is required to take
There is also first aid training available for nurses in which they learn how to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and the Heimlich manoeuvre. This is so that they revive a person who is unconscious. Continues Professional Development is available to dentists, doctors and nurses in which they learn things in key areas such as areas they are not good at. This helps them to acquire all the knowledge they need to be the best they can be.
Career Progression Routes:
There are many different career paths the health care professional must go through in order to become qualified. For example a dentist, doctor and pharmacist all go through and have to pass medical school at university. This can take up to 15 years depending on what job they want to become. Also at university, they must obtain their PHD which will give them the ‘Dr’ status. The career progression route for a nurse is different as their job isn’t quite as advanced as a doctors or a dentist. A nurse has to obtain a minimum of 5 GCSE’s at and 2 A levels. At university, there are a number of courses they could takes such as DipHE child and adult nursing, Bsc mental health nursing and patient healthcare. After university, they person wishing to become a nurse applies for a nurse position and is given the role of a trainee nurse. After the trainee nurse has gotten the right training and qualification, they become a fully qualified nurse.
To become a qualified vet one must go pass their GCSE as well as their A levels. At university, they are required to take the animal care course in which they learn how to care and operate on animals; however there are a small number of universities that offer these courses so vet jobs are limited due to this.