College of Medical & Dental Sciences

Student Development and Support Office

September 2012

Dear First Year Medical Student

Many congratulations on getting in to Birmingham Medical School, we’re sure that you’re looking forward to coming toBirmingham in September. Although you’re no doubt excited, most people at this stage also feel quite apprehensive about what it will really be like once you get here. If this is how you’re feeling, don’t worry – you’re normal!

This letter and the attached documents will give you a variety of useful information and essential weblinks. Please read it carefully as you will find that we want you to do a few things to prepare for the first week you are here – what we call Welcome Week and is colloquially known as “Freshers”.

The week of 17-21September includes quite a lot of structure to try to make your transition to study at University easier. Part of this is that you must log in to WebCT, the University’s virtual learning environment, and do some reading tasks which will form part of group work you will be doing on Tuesday 18th September – the details of how to do this and what to do are given in the document below entitled: Things to do for Welcome Week, along with some other essential things to do before you arrive. We suggest that you start as you mean to go on and work through the list ticking them off as you do them – an essential part of every junior doctor’s life is their list of jobs and you will quickly learn the satisfaction of ticking things off!

Before you arrive there are two main sources of help:

  • If you have detailed queries about the administrative aspects e.g. “I won’t be able to get to Welcome Week, what do I do?” or “When are the exams?” or “What do I do about my immunisations?” then please email . You will receive a pack with all this information in it from Tuesday 20th September, so there is no need to contact us unless you specifically require information in advance.
  • The other source of advice is a group of the student representatives from the students’ Curriculum and Welfare Committee (CAWC, pronounced “cork”). They will reply to any emails you send thin 24 hours. This email address is for questions about student life and the student experience. E.g. “Should I bring my laptop, do people use them in lectures?”, “How easy is it to find accommodation in Birmingham from Year 2 onwards?”, “Does everyone have a car?”, “Is there a hockey team?” etc.

Please see also: the timetable for University Welcome Week events at

You will also have received lots of information from MedSoc, which is a marvellous organisation, but we know that for some students it all seems a bit “full-on”. Please don’t feel that if these activities are not the sort of thing you normally do that you won’t fit into Medical School life. Some people love MedSoc and its activities, others don’t. There are around 350 people in your year, and you’re bound to find some like-minded friends!

One common question is: what are the term dates? For 2012-13 they are:

17-12September 2012 = Welcome Week

24 September – 07 December 2012

07 January – 22 March 2013

23 April – 14 June 2013

Please note you should check online that these dates remain the same, before making eg travel arrangements. Also that we don’t have half terms at University and we do not allow students to take holidays in term time. So, if your parents want to book a holiday including you, it must be in holiday time.

What to buy before you come!

If a generous and proud grandparent or auntie wants to buy you a present before you come to medical school we recommend two things only. Don’t buy loads of books, buy this one and read it and get a proper stethoscope. This is the only sort of stethoscope to get – cheaper ones are useless as the tubing is too thin and more expensive ones are a waste of money! It’s worth shopping around on the internet for both as there are bargains to be had!

How to Succeed at Medical School: An Essential Guide to Learning. BMJ Books

Dason Evans, Jo BrownISBN: 978-1-4051-5139-9. (About £15.00)

3M Littmann Classic II stethoscope (About £50.00) You will need a stethoscope in Year 1.

Enclosed with this letter are four important documents and an appendix:

  1. Things to do for Welcome Week, which outlines the tasks you need to complete before coming here.
  2. A flyer for the attention of all students who willnot be living in shared student accommodation (eg parental home, own flat) this year: if you are in this category please respond without delay, as we need to book catering.
  3. An A4 sheet giving a list of Personal Mentor (PM) group numbers and associated rooms. Explanation of what that means is on that sheet. It is essentialthat you bring this list with you to Welcome Week. You can find your PM group number via the online documents at the link given on the next page.
  4. An A4 list of M groups and room numbers. Again, that sheet provides further information, and again, it is essential to bring this sheet with you to Welcome Week. Your M group number will be on the same online document as your PM group number (don’t confuse the two!), at the link on the next page.
  5. Appendix: details of various University based welcome events that may be helpful to those of you who have children, live locally or are international students.

We look forward to seeing you soon. Please ask us if you’re not sure of anything, no matter how trivial it might seem!

Best wishes

James BigleyReena Suresh Professor Kate Thomas

Chair, CAWC Year 1 rep Vice Dean, Student Development & Support

P.S. If you have received this but have deferred your place, please don’t worry – in order to get the information out early we are working from an early list of confirmed places.

Things to do for Welcome Week.

Registration

When the University confirms your place it tells you to register online. Please don’t ignore this! It is vital that you do this before you arrive for Welcome Week. Registration will give you your University email address and access to restricted areas of the web.

As part of online registration you will be asked to provide a photo. Home students who do this promptly will be posted their ID card, via recorded delivery. ID cards will be printed the week beginning 20 August. There will be Registration hubs during Welcome Week where students can obtain their ID card if they have not received one already. The venues and opening times from 15th September are available online. Swipe cards are needed to enter the Medical School, though there will initially be staff on hand to let you in if you haven’t yet got your card.

Welcome Week

For Welcome Week we have designed a number of tasks to get you involved in working with your M (for Medicine!) Group. An M group is a set of around 18 students with whom you will share small group teaching (SGT) through the year, and on the Tuesday and Friday of Welcome Week you will do some initial group work as a taster and guide to learning at University.

To prepare for this you need to log on to the website below:

On this site you will find:

  • a timetable of events for the week
  • a document entitled “What is it like to be a medical student at Birmingham?” This is a general introduction to the way in which our MB ChB course is organised and some factors that you may need to take into account when coming here. This document probably seems quite scary – it is not intended to be, but a number of our students say that they had no idea of what to expect before they came and that more information like this would have helped. We hope you find it helpful.
  • A link to online registration:
  • A contract for the Voting Pads. These are an interactive learning tool, which you are loaned for the first two years here. There will be no charge, unless you fail to return the Voting Pads in working order at the end of year 2. Please bring 2 completed copies of the contract with you to Welcome Week, and consult the schedule for collection times/venue. Both will be counter-signed by staff and one returned to you for your records.

Online, you will also be able to access your PM and M group numbers, Talking Heads, Reading task documents, virtual tour of library and pre-induction Questionnaire.

Incidentally, MB ChB is the name of the degree you will get after you’ve completed the course. MB is Bachelor of Medicine and ChB is Bachelor of Surgery (Ch is short for chirugeriae which is surgery in Latin!). Some universities use MB BS – it all means the same thing!

Practical Details

How to Access WebCT
Go to These pages are publically available, i.e. you can see them before registration. In the left hand frame are a series of options, select ‘Logging in to WebCT’ and follow the instructions. These give screenshots and advice relating to specific programmes you might have on your home PC. We highly recommend that you browse this site, particularly the FAQs.

Appendix: University events and Information

Students with Children Welcome event

  • Sunday 16 September
  • 10:30am - 12:30pm
  • iLounge, Main Library

Staying Local Hub

  • Saturday 15 September
  • 10:30am-2:30pm
  • iLounge, Main Library

Around a quarter of new students choose to stay at home or live in non-University accommodation. The Hubprovides an opportunity for local and commuting students to make new friends, ask questions of current students and familiarise themselves with the main campus.

UK studentsstarting their courseon 17 September 2012

  • ID cards will be printed out in the week beginning20 August 2012 (if they have provideda photo) and posted via recorded delivery. A level results will be published on 16 August)

EU and international studentsstarting their courseon17 September 2012

  • ID cards will be printed and be available for collectionfrom the Registration Hub in the Avon Room upon arrival.