Volunteering at Royal Surrey ‘sealed the deal’ on a future in medicine for one 18-year-old.

Prahlad Prabu has been part of the hospital’s Student Volunteers’ Programme which is run once a year. It gives anyone interested in a healthcare related career the chance to get hands-on experience.

Prahlad spent most of his time on Bramshott ward chatting with patients and helping with some practical care.

He said: “Doing volunteering and getting hands on, helping patients and talking to health professionals about their work, gave me an insight into how medicine would actually be as a career.

“I spoke to lots of junior doctors, they loved their job and I enjoyed seeing them at work.”

He said his experience confirmed that he wanted to become a doctor and being able to draw on personal first hand examples helped in his application for university.

Prahlad has now started a medical degree at Leeds University.