An introduction to medic families You’re sitting in LT1 on Monday morning, nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, glancing around at everyone, thinking how clever everyone looks. But fear not, help is about to arrive! In the first few days at Nottingham you’ll be introduced to a second year who will become your new medic mum or dad. Generally, they have the same personal tutor as you, and some tutors will even take you out for a meal with your parent, and potentially your grandparents and great-grandparents too! Good parents will provide you with old textbooks and the ancient, but still very useful, anatomy cheat sheets. Better parents will invite you round for Ocean pre-lashes and take you out for coffee! Whilst every medic appreciates the sacred task of medic parenting, if by chance you lose contact or your parent becomes neglectful, never fear, you can adopt your own! Or you can come and find your wonderful amazing welfare officer (me) and I can reassign you a more willing parent.
Your parent has been through it all before, so it’s a great place to start for any questions you’ve got, or for help and advice. They know what exams you can leave until the last minute, the best textbooks, how to survive an all-nighter in Greenfield library and even the cheapest food in A-floor café, so use and abuse your new family, and pick their brains on all aspects of being a medic at Nottingham! Their first job when you meet them is to take you out for a drink. Let them! It’s tradition. We want to make your first few days as easy and stress-free as possible, so to set you on your way, here’s a few questions you might just want to have answered: •What’s the cocktail party? •What fancy dress will I need? •How many bottles of water do I need for a hangover? •What’s Karni all about? •What’s a ragraid? •How do I get to the medics’ ball? •What about different societies in Nottingham? •What medic societies and sports are there? •Will I have time to go to normal Freshers’ fair? •What are the main clubs in Nottingham? •What’s the deal with drink prices? •Can I have a taxi number? •What’s the clinical skills centre? •What happens on placement? PS don’t forget to swap mobile numbers and emails. Many a child has been orphaned by forgetting to do this on day one! Compiled by Gemma Dracup – Welfare Officer
•How on earth do I read this ridiculous yellow timetable booklet? •What are the different modules like? •Is it 9-5? Will I have a social life? •When are our holidays? •Will there be a lot of work in the holidays? •Who is my tutor? •How do I contact them? •What if they’re in Derby or somewhere far away? •What’s the quickest way from halls to the QMC? •What’s freshers’ week really like? •What’s going to happen in WeekOne? •Is it possible to go out every night and still make 9am lectures every day? •Am I allowed to come to lectures in pyjamas? •Will I get into trouble if I don’t go to lectures?