Joining Information for MBChB Year 4 Transfers

Welcome to the Medical School of Edinburgh University. It is an excellent choice to study at one of the oldest and most prestigious medical schools of some 350 years, in the UK.

The clinical school boasts a very illustrious history from the past with the likes of Joseph Lister and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to name but a few. Although the school has firm foundations with the past, it continues to look to the future to progress medical education further. The medical school’s close ties with the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons also provide a very good stepping stone for many students to continue their postgraduate education in Edinburgh.

This is some information prepared by previous transfer students that you may find useful. It gives you some information on the course, assessment, equipment you may find helpful to have, advice on getting around Edinburgh and between hospitals and who to contact for advice or any further information. There is also a section of frequently asked questions.

Matriculation Information

You can find information on how to matriculate, which is an online process, using the link below:

Matriculation

Overview of the Course - A Student Perspective

You will be entering Year 4.  Year 4 consists of systems-based teaching, covering Cardiology, Respiratory, Neurology, Endocrinology & Rheumatology, General Practice, Principals of Surgery and Orthopaedics, GI & Liver and Infectious Diseases & Team Working. Bedside teaching becomes a more prominent feature of learning.

The fourth Professional Examination is made up of module assessments, portfolio case reports and an end-of-year clinical assessment comprising a practical and an online examination. Students are required to pass all assessments and the Professional Examination before proceeding to the fifth year of the MBChB programme.

The year begins with a week of whole class teaching as well as whole class teaching on the final Friday of each four week block dedicated to teaching programme themes.  These comprise of subjects that are taught in every year of the course and you will be examined on them in the end of year OSCE (Observed Structured Clinical Examination)

Depending on your module and your particular module tutor, you will have varying amounts of timetabled teaching and lectures. If you have nothing timetabled it is useful to spend time on the wards, talking to and examining patients. Do talk to the Foundation Year doctors or the nurses and ask them if you can help out – this is a good opportunity to practice your clinical skills. Don’t feel like you’re getting in the way – you are part of the team and staff and patients are aware that the hospitals in which you are training are teaching hospitals.

Throughout the year, you will be based at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and the Western General Hospital. You may also spend some time at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, The Royal Edinburgh Hospital (psychiatry) and other peripheral hospitals.

Edinburgh students have had some clinical exposure. There have been on General Practice attachments and they have been taught some basic clinical procedures such as pulse and blood pressure measurement, taking blood and basic life support. They also know the basics of history taking and examination. You may find you are more experienced than them in some areas. If you are coming from a more traditional course, you will have a better grounding in the basic sciences, which will stand you in very good stead.

Computer Based Learning

The Edinburgh Electronic Medical Curriculum, commonly abbreviated to EEMeC is a system that is specifically designed for Edinburgh University medical students, providing on-line learning and information. You will receive your permanent login details which will give you full student access to EEMeC one the matriculation process is complete.

Course Assessment

Edinburgh Medical School assess students in various different ways, for example, case reports, OSCEs, clinical skills and professionalism.  This is still being finalise for the new curriculum.  This will be available on EEMeC by the time the academic year starts.

Portfolio

The Case Report Portfolio is an eight page case report.  During your clinical years  you will complete a portfolio case report for various modules.  You know which modules you need to submit a case report portfolio at the start of the academic year.  Each is written on a particular patient during designated rotation and it provides a written assessment.

The portfolio includes a history, examination, systemic enquiry and programme outcome themes.

Programme outcome themes run throughout the undergraduate medical curriculum. They are viewed as the core themes that link all the aspects of the curriculum. For example, integrating public health aspects of smoking into many different medical conditions. These themes can be found in the course handbook and will be addressed in the teaching weeks.

Once written, the portfolio is uploaded to online system Pebblepad for marking.

End of Year Synoptic Assessment (OSCE)

At the end of year you’ll have an OSCE, which stands for Objective Structured Clinical Examination. You may have been examined in this manner at your previous college. This is an exam to test all your practical skills.

You can get informal support from the Clinical Skills Facilitators throughout the year at the Clinical Skills Centre, Chancellor’s Building here (requires a log in):

The Clinical Skills and Simulation Centre- Facilities and Availability

A number of Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) sessions occur prior to your year 4 exams which many students find useful.

Academic and Non-Academic Discussions Boards

EEMeC provides a good forum for discussing academic and non-academic issues. You can post questions and comments for your peer group and is a great source for ‘picking the brains’ of your colleagues, you can even post anonymously. You are able to view all the year boards but only able to respond to comments and questions from your own year. These can be accessed through a link on the EEMeC main page.

Academic Calendar

You can find further information about the academic calendar for the new year 4 in 2016 below:

GMC Guidance - Achieving Good Medical Practice

The General Medical Council has produced guidance for medical students around achieving good medical practice. You should familiarise yourself with this document:

 

The Medical Student Council (MSC)

The Medical Student Council (MSC) is made up entirely of medical students. The committee meets every week, members are encouraged to attend and all students from every year are welcome! Further information and details of meetings can be found on the MSC website, easily accessible via EEMeC.

The primary aim of the MSC is student representation, if you have a problem (work, social, ethical) whilst at medical school we are here to offer advice or take this issue to the College of Medicine. Also most College teaching committees include a student. 

It is also a forum for discussion.  The MSC hopes that by coming up with ideas and solutions to problems encountered by medical students it will have a positive impact on the MBChB programme. It is a source of information and advice. It organises the annual intercalated BSc Honours evening and publishes a helpful guide for students considering this option. 

Finally, it has sport and social role. It organises the Academic families evening, Medics Ball and Sporting events.

Class representatives are elected to represent the views of their year. They are expected to gather the opinions of fellow students, to communicate these views to the MSC and to the course organisers and then to feedback to the students.

Books

There are also similar good textbooks available for examination and general medicine. When you’ve started the course you’ll see better which books will suit you, so don’t rush into buying lots of books before you arrive here. A good place to buy medical books is Blackwell Bookshop on South Bridge, or you could also use Amazon, the online bookshop. Bear in mind that in the first month you’ll join several medical societies that give you good discount on books if you buy them online (for example the Medical Protection Society), and there are always those in the years above willing to sell their books on to you second hand, so it might be worth checking the discussion boards on EEMeC. The library is also well stocked with core teaching material.

Clothing

In the hospital you will need to dress smartly. Males you are not allowed to wear a tie due to infection control guidelines or required to wear a suit as you will be very hot in the wards. Females should also dress smartly and appropriately for contact and examination of patients. You will obtain a hospital ID badge which you should have with you at all times. You will get further information during your first week on how to dress appropriately for the wards.   For international students, you should know that Edinburgh can be a cold place, so it would be wise to pack some warm clothes!

How to get to the Hospitals

The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (Little France), the Western General Hospital, the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, the Royal Edinburgh Hospital (Psychiatry)

To get to these hospitals you have a few options – you might want to walk if the weather is good and if you live near to the hospitals. You could also cycle or drive although car parking can be difficult and costly, especially in the Royal Infirmary and Western General. Having said all that, it would probably be easiest to take a bus or the inter-hospital shuttle especially initially when you’re still trying to figure out where everything is.

Buses

Buses are easy to use in Edinburgh and the main bus company is Lothian Buses. Bus stops are found on virtually every street and you should have no difficulty finding one. However, finding the bus-stop that you want - i.e. with the bus to your destination, takes a little exploring on your part. The website for Lothian buses www.lothianbuses.com. It has a bus route map that you can use to locate the nearest bus stop to you. You will find the map under the ‘timetables’ link at the website.

The fare for Lothian buses is a flat fare of £1.60 one way. A day saver ticket that gives you unlimited travel for a day costs £4.00. These tickets (including day saver) can bought on board from the driver. Take note that the drivers do not give change – if you will be using the bus regularly you can apply for a bus pass which offers a student discount.

There is also a free shuttle bus between three of the four hospitals, run by the hospital and University which currently allows free travel for students. You can find the table on the University of Edinburgh website.  Check regularly to ensure you have the  most up to date times.

Cycling

Edinburgh is a fairly small and congested city so often the quickest and cheapest way to get around is to cycle. The two main sites at which fourth year teaching takes place – Royal Infirmary Edinburgh and the Western General Hospital - are now slightly out of the centre, but are still within a comfortable distance.

Cycling is often on busy roads so all usual safety precautions are advisable, but don’t let that put you off as it is definitely the cheapest, most reliable, and quickest way of getting to where you need to be.  Make sure you invest in some quality bike locks.  University of Edinburgh security team can offer you advice on best practices.

 

The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh

This hospital is located on the southern side of the city centre. If you are unfamiliar with Edinburgh, it may be helpful to buy a city map. You can get to it easily enough by cycling out downhill from the Royal Commonwealth pool alongside the University’s Pollock Halls. Follow the Dalkeith Road to Cameron Toll roundabout. Go straight over (2^nd exit) and up a bit of a hill and as you round the bend at the crest. Head downhill and turn left into the hospital grounds. It’s somewhere between 15 and 30 minutes depending on your level of fitness and fear of traffic. It has a fair bit of cycle parking round the back of the medical school building (turn left at the first roundabout and follow road round to the right), though it can be pretty busy. If needed there are 2 showers in the toilets in the Chancellor’s building foyer, along with plenty of lockers (deposit £1 coin) in rooms on the ground floor of the same building.

The Western General Hospital

This is to the north west of the city centre. To get there from the west end of Princes’ Street is an easy cycle as it is pretty well all downhill except for the last minute or two. Again, if you are unfamiliar with the city it may be helpful to buy a city map.

Basically from the pedestrian crossing just beyond Fraser’s Department store (outside No. 1 Rutland Place) head north away from Princes’ Street past several sets of lights and then downhill crossing the Dean Bridge. Follow the hill upwards past the gallery of modern art and go straight through the next set of lights. You will approach a roundabout, take the right hand exit and continue until a large junction. Turn left down hill; go straight over the roundabout and up the hill for approximately half a mile. The WGH is on the left, you want the entrance road at the crest of the hill (entrance for Acute Receiving Unit). Bike parking is right at the front of the building. The Medical Education Centre has one shower in each set of toilets and a reasonable number of lockers (£1).

Facilities Within the Hospitals

All the hospitals have a canteen and shop facilities - such as a newsagent and cash points. The hospitals also have Chaplaincy services which are multi faith / denominational. There are also adequate showering and locker facilities for students.

Accommodation

Please visit the University website for information and advice on University accommodation. If you apply for University Accommodation, you will most likely be placed in Kincaid’s Court or College Wynd. These are centrally located and are good places to make friends. The rent price is fairly average for student accommodation and includes cleaning twice a week, electricity and Broadband Internet connection in each room. Your other housemates could be other transfer students or international students. Some of them may well be a few years younger than you, so may keep a few late nights.

Don’t forget that you do have the option of renting private flats. You would have to come up to Edinburgh sometime before terms starts. Flat hunting can start from home by searching through the Internet websites but you need to be in town to actually sort it out. The university offers limited number of privately owned flats that you can look into.

UpayChilli - UoE Cafes Cashless Catering System

UpayChilli, the University of Edinburgh’s cashless catering system is an exclusive service for all staff and students that allows you to pay for a range of catering in University managed outlets with your university card or mobile (please note that this does not apply to NHS Hospitals and Chancellors Building).

Make use of all of the system’s many benefits such as; Exclusive discounts and promotions as well as a loyalty scheme where you can collect points to spend on a range of food/ drink items, meal deals multi buy offers and much more!

Join the cashless revolution now. Simply go to www.accom.ed.ac.uk/for-students/our-cafés/upaychilli/ to register for an account

SNAPfax Discounts

It’s worth getting a Snapfax if you’re going to be out and about in Edinburgh. It’s a company who work with different restaurants, bars and shops to offer discounts to anyone who has a Snapfax. It offers some very good food discounts and most importantly it does good drinks deals (usually 3 for 2’s) at a lot of places where you’re likely to go to if you’re a student. It also offers discounts on other useful stuff like second hand televisions (10% at cash generators) and bikes. Remember to take it with you when you go out because you’ll need to show it to get your discount.

To get one you have to register on their website. It only takes a few minutes and you should receive your Snapfax within a few days.

Frequently Asked Questions

You can find answers to o ur frequently asked questions for transfers by clicking the link below:

Frequently Asked Questions

Help

If you have any questions contact Linda Year 4 Coordinator linda.pollock@ed.ac.uk or come by the office GU316 Chancellor’s Building.