Meet the Team
Frequently Asked Questions
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My flatmates are being disruptive and preventing me from working effectively. What can I do?
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Firstly try speaking to them and explain how the noise is impacting on your work. Non-medics often don't realise the amount we work, so having a polite word is often enough to get them to reason with you. If this doesn't work, try speaking to your sub-warden (in halls). They can advise you on the options you have. They should have made themselves known to you in the first few weeks, but you can get hold of them through your halls office. If you're thinking of moving out, the accommodations office can help you.
What happens if I feel like I am not coping?
Being at University and experiencing new situations away from home is difficult enough as it is, let alone being a Medical Student. It is quite usual for people to feel like they are not coping with everything. Firstly, tell your tutor! Its good for your tutor to know about any problems you are having and they will always try to find ways to help you. If it is a particular topic you are struggling with then email the module leader; all of them are only there to help. There are also six medical school tutors who you can email if you feel you are struggling and don’t want to talk to your tutor, and of course there is the Student Support Unit. Talking to other medical students, either your year or Medic Parent or come to us, as you will find a lot more people are in the same situation.
Who do I tell if I am ill?
If you are ill and need time off you have to let the medical school know the reason. There are forms to fill in which can be found on blackboard under LMS official info. If your illness is affecting your work then tell your Personal tutor and they can record this in their notes (this can be very useful for helping to prove mitigating circumstances, especially around exam time). Also the GP can send in a medical note or report to the medical school. If you need more support from the Medical School you can speak to the Student Support Unit.
What is it like repeating a year?
The thought of repeating a year could make you feel anxious. However repeating a year does not make you a failure, and it shows that the Medical School have faith in you completing your course.
Here is one students thoughts on repeating a year: I was really nervous about repeating a year. I thought it would be difficult to balance my new year and my old year and not living in halls with everyone can be a really big worry. However, everyone was really accepting and my new year were very grateful for the extra knowledge and experience. I tend to spend most of the time with my housemates (so my old year), and sometimes it is difficult because of the different timetables but everyone is still free in the evening. It also just means I know even more people now, however I didn’t feel the need to go out as much as I had already had my Fresher’s year and mainly I wanted to concentrate on work. Also, I wasn’t expected to know everything and there is always more to learn, in some ways repeating a year gives you an advantage over the new Fresher's as you already know some of the information. It was also nicer being in my own house instead of halls, as there were no fire alarms and its much easier to decorate so it feels more like home.
What happens if I don’t understand something on the course?
Obviously with all this new information, no one is going to be able to understand all the material. There are several people you can ask for help though! You can talk to other peers, see if they can explain something in a different way. You can also ask the tutors in the group room, they are always happy to speak to you about new concepts. There are discussion boards for every subject, you can write a question on the discussion board and someone will answer it for you (these discussion boards are monitored by tutors and they will correct anything that is wrong). Also there are the module leaders or lecturers, they will happily answer questions that you have about their lectures or the modules (you can either talk to them in person straight after a lecture etc or find their email which is usually located somewhere on their powerpoint presentation).