MF's ombudspersons

AUTHORS: NAZIRA HAMMOUD SHAHWAN & NINNA OOM

Did you know that Medicinska Föreningen (MF) has two ombudspersons that can help students and doctoral students with matters related to their studies? Ninna and Nazira are there for all students at KI, regardless of membership in the union, and – it should go without mentioning – they work under complete confidentiality.

How can you help students and doctoral students?

We can, for example, help them understand their rights and obligations, be a neutral and independent instance between them and KI in a possible conflict, and investigate whether KI follows the rules in handling their case. However, we do not take sides or decide on a matter.

When can students and doctoral students contact you?

Always! No question is too big or too small and we do our best to get back as soon as possible. If we are not the right people to answer a question, we refer the student to someone who is. Just remember — our door is always open!

What’s a typical case for you as ombudspersons?

Well, our job varies a lot and the cases that we work with are quite different from each other. But when it comes to student matters, we often give support to students that have an upcoming claim with the disciplinary board. We also counsel students that feel that they have been mistreated by their teachers or peers and others who, for example, want to know how to have a grade reviewed. When it comes to doctoral students, the cases are usually connected to their work environment and employment. We can help them with the process of changing a supervisor or informing them about their rights concerning prolongation of their contract of employment.

For how long have you as ombudspersons been around?

KI initiated the role of the ombudspersons in 2003, because they wanted the students to have an independent person/persons outside of KI to turn to if something happened during their studies at KI, someone employed by the student union for example. I, Nazira, have worked as an ombudsperson at KI for five years so I’ve seen quite a lot during my time here. Everything from more simple cases regarding misleading and plagiarism to more difficult cases involving sexual harrasments during an internship (VFU) etc. And I, Ninna, only started working last summer. It’s a really fun and interesting job, but I still have much to learn!

The ombudspersons’ area of jurisdiction used to be divided in two — one for students and one for doctoral students. However, we are now striving towards gradually merging our roles. This means that the two of us can handle cases with both students and doctoral students. A big pro with this is that we are more available to everyone – if one of us can’t help at the time, the other one probably can. Furthermore, we are able to discuss cases with each other if we find it necessary and, in a particularly tricky case, we can show support in numbers.

How can students and doctoral students reach you?

The easiest way is to fill out a form on MF’s website. On the form, the student can tell us a bit about their problem after which we contact them. Usually, we arrange a meeting with the student to ensure that we understand every aspect of the problem and discuss how we can be of help.

You can find the form here: https://medicinskaforeningen.se/en/student-rights/ombudspersons/

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