5min read • 3 months ago
Hello Guys good to be here again to share my personal experience as a Medical Laboratory Science Professional, this time I will be starting another series on my Journey as a Medical Laboratory Science Intern. I will be writing about my Pre, Active, and Post Internship Experience.
You can checkout my previous series.
My Life As An MLS Corper Wee
https://labinview.com/post/3ce0f436-deb6-4fc1-8113-1bb54f2ab21e
This particular post will be about my Pre Internship Journey so take off your gloves and scroll along 😀.
After being Inducted as Medical Laboratory Scientist you will be given a Temporary Practicing License 📃 on your induction day. This license can be presented for Internship 🥼 or to secure a job pending the time you secure an internship (the implication of using this to secure a job pending the time you get an internship is you will paid less or not get paid at all if your employer recognizes it’s not a permanent license).
After induction I didn’t return home I rented my personal space because I can afford to due to the money I was earning from my side hustle (I only rented an apartment because I can afford to if you can’t afford it please go home I just added this just to give context to the story ahead 😀). Back then there was no parcel services or what’s app groups like LabInView to inform you about internship openings or help you submit your credentials, so most of the information we got were from a friend who heard somewhere that a particular institution were taking interns and we would travel down to the Institution to make submission.
So number one thing we did was make many copies of our credentials which included
Temporary License
Statement of Result
WAEC or NECO Results
First School Leaving certificate
LGA identification
Birth Certificate
3 Recommendation Letters
Passport photographs
I had to submit to several institutions and getting an internship form wasn’t free, as at that time I paid five thousand Naira to get one for each institution and I can remember submitting at FMC Abeokuta, HMB Oyo State, HMB Osun State and Also Osun state university Teaching hospital.
Then came reality of securing internship in Nigeria, based on my experience submitting your application is not enough. I was oblivious to this reality so all I did back then was just put a call through to ask the organization to ask if I have been selected when I wasn’t getting any reply.
After staying at home for about 2 months I decided to explore other things so I went to learn other trades mean while some of my colleagues had secured their internships placement and one pattern I noticed when I asked them how they did it was they usually responded with knowing someone that knew the Chief Medical Director in the institution where they work.
As at that time I knew nobody and I was a bit of an introvert back then ( no longer an introvert because been a Medical Laboratory scientist and working in an hospital setting will definitely make you an extrovert 😆 😂) most of the time I would just stay indoors when I was not at the place where I was learning the new trade but one particular Saturday morning while having a conversation with my Neighbor (this conversation came up due to payment of electricity bill) who was a Journalist for a particular radio station and this meant she had access to the then minister of health to the state government due to the morning radio program she had with the minister. She asked what course I studied and she told me to forward my credentials to her , that was how I was able to secure my internship.
During my Internship I heard a lot of stories of how people were able to secure their positions which included paying money to get a slot.
So here is how I will rank securing an internship position. Note this is based on my experience
Being the best graduating student especially from the university I graduated from this will give you an automatic internship slot.
Know someone that knows the Chief Medical Director of the hospital that’s taking in intern. Note you knowing a scientist working in that institution is not a guarantee of being accepted most times what that scientist can do is inform you of when the application form is out. (In other words let people be aware you are actively looking for an internship placement you don’t know who might be of help)
Paying for an Internship slot, yes you read that right. I saw first hand a case where some people who had their applications submitted for months not been called up for interview but were being replaced by people who were able to pay.
Finally by merit. This usually happens when the number of people who submitted applications are not that much. Sometimes when several universities do their induction at a particular time the numbers of applications are always high this leads to competition.
so if I was to start over again In applying for internship here are the steps I will take
- Make people aware that I’m actively looking for Internship position
- I will obtain internship forms and submit my credentials to as many institutions as possible when I see an opening and do a follow up ( this institutions only call people for interviews only when you have obtain their forms and submitted your credentials even if you know someone who can help or pay for a spot )
Note: This article is based on my personal experience
And with this we have come to the end of this episode. Drop your questions and contributions in the comment section.
So I’m currently vibing to 2 new jam 🎶
Zanzibar and Already falling by Davido
Next episode coming up soon.Till then ban kwana.