Medicine 2019 - Part 2

[Monkey2001]

Oops, looks like none of noticed the old thread was full!

@HostessTrolley @Hoodiemum @4catsham @mamamedic @medicmom @mimiasovitch @Nightowlpossibly @ProfessorLayton1 @Tinkobell @Weaverspin @Itsthekissing @Sluj @Mumneedswine @Movingmountains

Apologies to any regulars I have missed

[Monkey2001]

@HostessTrolley It sounds like they are in a strong position to insist on dissection for their cohort at least. It seems very unreasonable to change something which is widely known to be a reason for course choice. Good luck to her and all her fellow students.

[HostessTrolley]

@ProfessorLayton1 they have an email sent to one of the students stating that cadaveric dissection would still be part of the course. And have an email from a faculty member to a student stating that imperial will be in the bottom two med schools in the country in terms of time spent on anatomy- they will be spending 1/3 of the time that kings have. That seems pretty radical for a med school that has a reputation for producing surgeons in particular...

I’m not sure about what was in prospectus information but they were certainly told verbally on the offer holders day that dissection was staying.

[HostessTrolley]

I’ll ask her. She said they’re going to speak to the SU and there’s a website that they can access to give course feedback.

On balance she says that she believes that she can access the experience during her intercalation depending on the option she chooses, and if that means intercalating at a different uni then she feels that she would be justified in making that choice. I think it’s the principle of her choice of uni being influenced in a way that feels underhand - she was in the top 5% or so for ukcat, good BMAT and straight a*s and must have interviewed reasonably well to have received offers.

As her mum I just feel sad that she’s worked so bloody hard to get there, and she was so happy and things were going so well but the shine has been taken off that at a very early stage. She hasn’t had an easy road. We do know that it’s been shown that prosection isn’t inferior, but people learn in different ways and this was important to her.

[ProfessorLayton1]

I am with your Dd on this and no wonder she feels annoyed about this especially if she has had 3 offers and could have chosen to go else where. Do you have any documentation regarding the nature of the course when she accepted the course?

[HostessTrolley]

She tells me that they were told at open days and offer holder days. That they were open about the course structure being under review and some changes were under way, but when questions were asked about dissection they were told it would still be part of the course

[SirTobyBelch]

When I think of how mercilessly we have Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) compliance hammered into us ahead of every open day, I'm amazed Imperial would put itself at risk of prosecution like this. Who was it who told her anatomy teaching would definitely include dissection?

[HostessTrolley]

She’s saying that a group of them are planning to go speak with the medic student union tomorrow to see if they can help and that it might mean her going elsewhere for her intercalation year to gain the experience.

She’s feeling a bit grotty today. She’s full of cold and it was a late night last night. She was out with a sports club and it was graduation day, there were lots of graduates in the bar sharing their drinking games with the freshers. She was still in class on time at 9am though lol

[hoodiemum]

Sorry to hear that, Hostess. I'm not surprised she's annoyed. You can understand with such a long course that things like Intercalation options, terms abroad etc might change from when you chose the uni, but something big like that, and so soon in the course, does seem very unfair. Hope she finds it turns out to be less of a big deal than it seems at the moment.

[HostessTrolley]

Dd fuming today. During the open days/offer holder days for imperial they were told that there were changes being made to the course structure for this years’ cohort. Questions were asked whether anatomy teaching would still include dissection and they were told yes it would. This is something that’s important to my d and was on ‘the list’ when she was deciding where to apply. They were told today that they’re not going to be doing dissection, and anatomy teaching will use prosection instead. She’s likely to have gone elsewhere if she’d known this - she had three offers (withdrew from her 4th choice) and her grades exceeded all of her offers. She’s happy at the uni and is making friends but feels lied to, and that’s it’s unfair of them to withdraw something that was a selling point that was a factor in the decision making of many students with no choice and no discussion. Sigh.

[Monkey2001]

So funny to hear how the DDs are communicating and the DSs silent. I always felt than when DS was away silent was probably positive. I have told him that when he goes away he will have to maintain a basic level of communication in order to receive money otherwise he would just disappear!

UCAS form has gone in and acknowledgements have started coming through. DS not feeling confident but acknowledged that the experience of 4 interviews last cycle will help.

Good to see little pictures of life from your DCs.

[mumsneedwine]

Mine is a 2nd year, which sounds weird as I'm still shocked she's even there !

[medicmom]

@mumsneedwine ur dd in 2nd year isn't it?

@tinkobel ds doing good placement in Doncaster. How about ur dd? I know early days but no complaints from him so I guess he is liking it. He was given a list of books for referring/buying... not sure. So dh gave him his physiology book from the Stone Age... apparently human body hasn't changed much!
Was wondering if anyone else's children have bought books.
@proflayton glad your dd having a good time.
I struggle too to get anything out of ds.

[hoodiemum]

Lovely to hear everyone's news. Glad they're settling OK. St Andrews is already very focused on a big test happening first week of Nov. Happens fast! The good news is she's finding that people on other courses are having to work pretty hard too, so medics aren't feeling too hard done by.

[Tinkobell]

@medicmom....no, no books yet 😕 - just medsoc/dissection kit/ labcoat bundle purchase....you? Where is your lad been placed? A long commute? I feel it's too soon to gauge overall satisfaction from DD. I'm seeing her in a couple of weeks so perhaps by then things will settle. I have faith in the place 100%, but I'm not the undergrad.

[mumsneedwine]

Hi. DD is in Nottingham (Sheffield was her insurance and I loved Julian 😁). The courses are quite similar, hence her liking them both. She's back off to GP next week and to QMC for placement.

[ProfessorLayton1]

Dd is having a really good time. She seems to have settled in quite well, made friends and seem to like them a lot. Couple of them in the new friends circle are medics so they are studying together and helping each other out!

I am sure that she said that they have been shown Cadavers last week.
Has bought some anatomy books ( three of them cost around 50pounds so she is not buying anymore books for other subjects this month??!) - not sure what books they she bought!!
In spite of asking couple of times she did not say what they were. Although we both are doctors she hardly says anything about lectures - all I get is that she has been taught some protein stuff, embryology, some chemistry ( presume it is biochemistry). No patient contact yet... we knew that she won't have much in terms of patient contact from her course in the first three years.
She has chosen her SSC and is doing French, was put in a top group apparently so she is predicting that it will be difficult.
She has joined couple of sports clubs, am surprised that she is not keen to join orchestra or an ensemble. She does not have her instrument with her yet.
She is missing her little sister and is coming home next week. Can't wait to have her back...

[medicmom]

Sorry meant dd.... 😩

[medicmom]

Totally agree with early placements but the mother inside me is a little worried when the children have to do so much on their own.
I'm sure he will be fine.
Has anyone bought books or know of any books useful in the first year?
@tinkobell I'm glad you are there to exchange notes
@mumsneedwine is your dad in Sheffield?

[medicmom]

Totally agree with early placements but the mother inside me is a little worried when the children have to do so much on their own.
I'm sure he will be fine.
Has anyone bought books or know of any books useful in the first year?

[Tinkobell]

@Hostesstrolley....I think that's really good that they're being shown a video and background info / prep prior to the morgue. Sheffield was quite wham! .....then afterwards a chance to talk to the anatomist about the process of donation etc. DD is ok, but I think it was a lot to take in quickly tbh. Heh ho.
@medicmom....yes! Placements began today! I agree, so soon! I'm just hoping the practise was friendly and welcoming. It is a long long day with no breaks for a GP. DD has a bit of a commute too...but it sounded like there were a few of them so 🤞🤞🤞

[mumsneedwine]

And they get an early chance to get their bedside manner right. Taking patient histories is so important I believe and doing it with care is a real skill. Also my DD spends time on a ward related to the theory so they can see the stuff they are learning about in a real setting. And they get to practice for their OSCEs on real patients - they do have to give permission but most seem happy to help. Hope everyone's DC are having fun.

[HostessTrolley]

At the Sheffield offer holders day they said it’s because it’s never too early to observe and develop communication skills and it helps students to see patients illnesses in the context of how it affects their lives rather than seeing it just in isolation which can happen in hospital ward rounds.

[medicmom]

....ooops!
@tinkobell its very mature of your dd to think about this aspect of dissection which gets taken for granted.

Ds is in Sheffield as well don't get much info from him only bits and pieces. He did mention though that they were going to gp practice this week. Dh (medic himself)was wondering about the point of having patient contact so early in the first year.
I ( non medic)think it's a good practice .

[medicmom]

@Tinkobell

[HostessTrolley]

@Tinkobell my d hasn’t started in the dissection lab yet, I think they were being shown a video this week about the families of donors along with a discussion - they’re still at the introductory lectures and freshers events stage for this week x