If you’re a school student who is looking for more information about a range of health careers, you may like to consider work experience or a Rural High School visit to help you learn more. Your school can host a visit by members of a rural student health club. This is a great way of learning more about a career in health. Students or School Work Experience Coordinators should contact their local health site for further information.

Students are the future of the regional health workforce. Our regional local health networks are proud to support health students in their studies, and assist them in the transition to become regional health professionals.

Work experience

Gaining some work experience in high school and university is a great way for you to decide what type of career you may or may not want. It also offers the opportunity to make useful contacts in the Health industry. 

What is work experience?

Work experience is typically unpaid work to see if you like a particular job, and gain skills and experience to make you a more appealing candidate to potential employers when you start looking for a job.

Why do it?

You can:

  • Get insight into what it's like to work and what's expected of you in the workplace
  • find out if you really like a job before committing to it
  • gain on-the-job experience and skills
  • get a foot in the door with an employer you want work with
  • find out more about yourself - whether you like working with people or alone, if you prefer  hands on work, or if you like helping people etc.

How to get a work experience placement

  • Ask your family and friends if they know any health professionals that you can speak to
  • talk with your careers counsellor and teachers about what you're interested in and see if they can help, or know someone in the workforce that you can talk to
  • directly contact employers (find out which Health services operate in your area)
  • search the web for work experience opportunities
  • volunteer with a community or charity organisation in your local neighbourhood to find out if you like helping and working with people.

Allied Health

Online work experience

Get a feel for allied health careers through the ‘Virtual Intern’ allied health online work experience.

You can register for free to access work experience modules tailored to a variety of allied health careers. You will undergo work experience online with vocational tasks and participation in clinical challenges in an easy, step by step process.

When you complete all four work experience modules, you will be provided with study pathway options into allied health careers.

The allied health online work experience:

  • is available to all students (no application or interview required)
  • focuses on learning rather than correct answers so the projects and challenges are risk-free
  • can be completed in your own time, from anywhere.

What are you waiting for? Dive in and see where a career in allied health can take you.

Further information

For further information, e-mail health.rssworkforcestrategist@sa.gov.au.