the
medicalstudent The voice of London’s Medical Students
October 2011
London for medical students Centerfold 8-page pullout
Westminster blocked NHS protests on bridge Page 4
Crisis Hits Medical Schools Katie Allan
Barts and the London Medical School are facing a dramatic loss of repre- sentation within the Queen Mary’s Students’ Union as a result of struc- tural changes to their shared student council. These proposals mark just one episode in an ongoing trend to squeeze representation and recogni- tion of the London medical schools out of their associated universities. The proposed ‘structural changes’ at Barts to the student council threaten to drastically reduce BL students’ rep- resentation. With the aim of cutting redundant roles and minimising the divide between students, representa- tives will be divided not by their cam- pus, but into three ‘zones’ - academic, welfare and union. While there will be some campus-specific representa- tives, all other positions will be open to those from either site. Whilst theo- retically any of these places could be
held by BL students, resulting in them holding more than 50% of seats, An- drew Smith, a final year BL medic and student council member, questions the likelihood of this occurring. ‘It can be questioned what the chances of a BL student being voted in to a cross-cam- pus position are, as they will undoubt- edly require votes from Mile End (QM) students too. W hile BL have a relatively high voter turnout, it is a fact that QM has an higher absolute turnout, based purely on student numbers. There is also the issue of differences in cam- paign time available;; this may be var- ied for a clinical medical student with hospital commitments, compared to a student reading another subject with only a few hours scheduled a week’. Historically, the two institutions of Barts and the London Medical School and Queen Mary University merged in 1994, as did their respec- tive students’ unions - the active and well-established BLSA (Barts and the London Students’ Association)
and QMSU (Queen Mary’s Students’ Union) which, at the time, was strug- gling financially and had a poor infra- structure. It was recognised that the well-organised BLSA had a lot to of- fer, so the student council was formed with 18 students from each campus. Though BL students are dissatis- fied with the proposals and their im- plications for the autonomy of BLSA, it seems that they were made with good intentions – even BLSA President, George Ryan, concedes that they are ‘a step in the right direction’. However, they have failed to take into account that medical students have a different set of experiences than those studying other subjects. ‘A medical degree places bur- dens on students that no other course does’ says Gareth Chan, senior presi- dent of the RUMS executive commit- tee. ‘What other course exposes its stu- dents to the realities of life and death? How many courses have timetables that start prior to 9 and finish after 5? The answer is none, and as a result medical
students have unique demands and re- quirements, and a medics’ union is best placed to deliver the services required’. However, at GKT there is a bleaker picture. Other medical schools in Lon- don have their own union acting as a largely independent branch of their ‘parent’ union. Unfortunately, there is no such body at GKT and all students are represented solely by King’s Col- lege London Student Union (KCLSU). There are only three clinical health rep- resentatives on a student council of 50, and specific representation for the med- ical school. To fill this void, MedSoc was formed to replace the GKT Stu- dents’ Union which was absorbed into KCLSU. Though MedSoc is very ac- tive, it is administratively just a society like any other within KCLSU. It is af- forded no greater importance or influ- ence than, for instance, the wine-tasting society, despite being the voice of over 2000 students. By extension, GKT re- mains the only London medical school (cont’d on page 2)
Health and safety - the danger of doctors Page 8
Trial by tube - TFL woes for medical students Page 12
Human Art - interior design on a body Page 14