Official University of Suffolk 2022 Applicant Thread

Hi All,

So excited to see people's responses :biggrin:

!

I'm a current student in my 3rd year of studying my Wildlife, Ecology and Conservation science degree (WECS for short!), so feel free to shoot questions and concerns to me, or one of the other Suffolk student ambassadors. We're here to help and to share our experience! :biggrin:

Would love to hear a little about you all and what you're most looking forward to!

Ceri :smile:

Reply 2

Stev1759

5

Original post by Evil Homer

Hi!

This is the thread for people who are thinking of applying to University of Suffolk for 2022!

Meet and chat to other people applying here.

Ice breaker questions:
What course are you applying for?
What subjects are you studying now?

You can find a big list of all the other applicant threads here :biggrin:

Hello everyone,Please does anyone know what to expect in the interview.. I have an interview for Diagnostic Radiography next week. Any advise here will be appreciated especially from those who have had same for this course

Reply 3

Hi everyone!

I'm in my second year of my photography degree, so if anyone has any questions or queries regarding that, please ask! Or of course if anyone has any general questions about the university or student life, feel free to ask those too!

Jess

Reply 4

Original post by Stev1759

Hello everyone,Please does anyone know what to expect in the interview.. I have an interview for Diagnostic Radiography next week. Any advise here will be appreciated especially from those who have had same for this course

Hi @Stev1759! I'm a third year diagnostic radiography student so I'd be more than happy to give you some advice!

I'd say that my number one top tip is to be organised! If the interview is in-person, then plan how long it'll take to commute - will this be by car (remember to fill up with petrol beforehand), train or walking? Maybe you need to book a hotel room for the night if the travelling will take a while? You'll most likely have some paperwork to bring with you as well e.g. GCSE certificates, ID in order to complete DBS checks, so it's worth organising the paperwork a couple of nights before to make sure you've got everything you need, and it's also worth making sure you've got some smart clothes to wear as well! If the interview is online, then double-check that you've got a working link to join the interview saved on your laptop somewhere to avoid panic in the morning.

In terms of questions, there are a few generic ones such as "why did you choose this university?" or "why did you choose this course?" that they're likely to ask, but there are a few radiography/ healthcare-based ones that they'll ask as well such as "why did you choose diagnostic radiography over therapeutic radiography?" and "can you name a couple of the NHS core values and give us an example of how you've demonstrated them in the past?" A couple of the values are "respect and dignity" and "commitment to quality of care". I'd suggest making a few flashcards with questions on one side and then a bullet-point answer on the back and looking over them a couple of times as it'll help you to keep your answers focussed and less-waffley!

Likewise, you're likely to be asked about your personal statement in your interview and the interview panel will usually pick out a couple of points to ask you about - these are normally based on a hobby of yours etc. so it's worth reading over your personal statement before the interview so you're prepared for any questions they might have! Similarly, most universities require you to have had work experience in a radiology department/ radiography setting and they'll ask you about this in the interview and they'll want to know what you saw on your work experience and how it impacted you - maybe you saw a radiographer communicate with a frightened patient and they were able to make them feel more at ease, or you saw how different professions in the hospital worked together and it inspired you?

You might get a couple of scenarios in the interview too, but there's not really a right or wrong answer for them - the university just want to see your thought process and as long as you can back up your answer, it's justified. They're just to see how you might deal with situations under pressure.

However, interviews for each university will be different and they might have changed a bit from when I had mine, but the same principles will apply! Remember that at the end of the day, as much as you're selling yourself to the university, they also need to sell themself to you!

I hope this helps and good luck!

Emma
3rd year diagnostic radiography student

Reply 5

Hi Everyone!!

I'm currently in my second year as a Psychology and Sociology student :tongue:

. If you have any questions about the course, the university, or even just general concerns about applications don't hesitate to ask away!! We will do our best to be of any help and even share some of our experiences :smile:

!!

Hoping to hear a lot of excitement for the start of the new year!!

Derrick

Reply 6

Kiwi230

6

Original post by Evil Homer

Hi!

This is the thread for people who are thinking of applying to University of Suffolk for 2022!

Meet and chat to other people applying here.

Ice breaker questions:
What course are you applying for?
What subjects are you studying now?

You can find a big list of all the other applicant threads here :biggrin:

Hiya,
I've applied to do Diagnostic Radiography
I'm doing a level Biology, Chemistry and geography :smile:

Reply 7

Original post by Kiwi230

Hiya,
I've applied to do Diagnostic Radiography
I'm doing a level Biology, Chemistry and geography :smile:

Hi @Kiwi230! That's fantastic news!!! I'm currently in my third year studying diagnostic radiography and I studied biology, chemistry and geography at A Level too! :smile:

Studying biology will definitely help you with learning anatomy and body systems! Do you have any questions about the university, the course (placement hours, sites, course modules etc.) or student life in general? I'd be more than happy to answer them :smile:

Emma
3rd year diagnostic radiography student

Reply 8

Kiwi230

6

Original post by University of Suffolk student

Hi @Kiwi230! That's fantastic news!!! I'm currently in my third year studying diagnostic radiography and I studied biology, chemistry and geography at A Level too! :smile:

Studying biology will definitely help you with learning anatomy and body systems! Do you have any questions about the university, the course (placement hours, sites, course modules etc.) or student life in general? I'd be more than happy to answer them :smile:

Emma
3rd year diagnostic radiography student

Hi Emma,
I was wondering about when you start going on placement ( First year or later on)?
Also I'm not from suffolk so would you recommend on-campus accommodation or off-campus?
Thanks :smile:

Reply 9

Original post by Kiwi230

Hi Emma,
I was wondering about when you start going on placement ( First year or later on)?
Also I'm not from suffolk so would you recommend on-campus accommodation or off-campus?
Thanks :smile:

Hi @Kiwi230! At UoS, around 60% of the time is spent on placement throughout the full three years. In first year, we spent around 10 weeks at the university in lectures from September-November, and then we spent around another 10 weeks on placement straight after and it inter-changes like that throughout the three years! Being on placement quite early means you get hands-on experience almost immediately and I found that I learn so much on placement as it's all of the practical aspects you need to take into considerations too as you're in a hospital :smile:

We spend the full three years at one placement site, so in terms of accommodation, it's entirely up to you! I was in on-campus accommodation for first year (Athena Hall) and I loved it because there are lots of students there and it made it a lot easier to meet others and the accommodation provider put on Freshers events too. I then stayed in off-campus accommodation in second year with three of my friends who I'd met in first year and I enjoyed that too as we had more independence and space and it was cheaper too. I think it depends what you'd like out of the accommodation as to what you'd like to go for? AXO accommodation is really close to the waterfront building and it's cheaper than Athena Hall too. I've attached a link to our accommodation page here which gives you a better insight into the different accommodation options :smile:

However, because we're on placement for long periods at a time and my placement site is quite far away, I picked up additional student accommodation on-site at the hospital. Luckily, if you require two student accommodations, then you can claim back the entire cost of the cheapest one (only on certain healthcare courses but we can with diagnostic radiography) so that's definitely something to consider! Your placement site might be closer to Ipswich though so you might not need additional accommodation :smile:

I hope this helps and let me know if you have any other questions about the course!

Emma
3rd year diagnostic radiography student

Reply 10

Hi Emma,
I’m planning to learn a bit of anatomy before I start the course in September. I’ve got Tortora’s book but it’s quite heavy for carrying around :smile:

What anatomy book do you use at school? Or maybe anatomy revision cards that you would recommend?

Reply 11

Original post by Loves_running

Hi Emma,
I’m planning to learn a bit of anatomy before I start the course in September. I’ve got Tortora’s book but it’s quite heavy for carrying around :smile:

What anatomy book do you use at school? Or maybe anatomy revision cards that you would recommend?

Hi @Loves_running! I think it's a great idea to get a head-start in the summer :smile:

I have Tortora's book too and I think it's great as it has both the anatomy and physiology. However, I agree that it's huge and too heavy to carry about and realistically, I only really used it when I was studying the anatomy and physiology of the body systems as it has helpful diagrams and lots of information!! I'd say that Bones and Joints by Gunn (on Amazon for about £36 but you might be able to find it cheaper elsewhere or you can also buy second-hand copies!) is one of the best books to learn anatomy as it has diagrams with annotations and then also a radiograph of the same anatomical area so you can see what each part looks like on X-Ray (it helps you to understand what you're looking at a bit better when you're on practice too) and it relatively small and light to carry about :smile:

I don't have any anatomy revision cards to recommend but if that's something that would help you, then that might be handy to do (you'd be able to find diagrams, images etc. from Google or relevant books like Bones and Joints)! "TeachMeAnatomy" is a fantastic website too which you might find helpful to learn anatomy and I found watching the "CrashCourse" YouTube channel videos on body systems etc. beneficial as well! If there's anything that you'd particularly like to learn or study, then I usually just searched it on Google or YouTube and helpful videos/ websites would come up!!

I hope this helps and remember to enjoy your summer too :smile:

Emma
3rd year diagnostic radiography student

Reply 12

Original post by University of Suffolk student

Hi @Loves_running! I think it's a great idea to get a head-start in the summer :smile:

I have Tortora's book too and I think it's great as it has both the anatomy and physiology. However, I agree that it's huge and too heavy to carry about and realistically, I only really used it when I was studying the anatomy and physiology of the body systems as it has helpful diagrams and lots of information!! I'd say that Bones and Joints by Gunn (on Amazon for about £36 but you might be able to find it cheaper elsewhere or you can also buy second-hand copies!) is one of the best books to learn anatomy as it has diagrams with annotations and then also a radiograph of the same anatomical area so you can see what each part looks like on X-Ray (it helps you to understand what you're looking at a bit better when you're on practice too) and it relatively small and light to carry about :smile:

I don't have any anatomy revision cards to recommend but if that's something that would help you, then that might be handy to do (you'd be able to find diagrams, images etc. from Google or relevant books like Bones and Joints)! "TeachMeAnatomy" is a fantastic website too which you might find helpful to learn anatomy and I found watching the "CrashCourse" YouTube channel videos on body systems etc. beneficial as well! If there's anything that you'd particularly like to learn or study, then I usually just searched it on Google or YouTube and helpful videos/ websites would come up!!

I hope this helps and remember to enjoy your summer too :smile:

Emma
3rd year diagnostic radiography student

Thank you, this is so helpful! 🙂

Reply 13

Kiwi230

6

Original post by University of Suffolk student

Hi @Kiwi230! At UoS, around 60% of the time is spent on placement throughout the full three years. In first year, we spent around 10 weeks at the university in lectures from September-November, and then we spent around another 10 weeks on placement straight after and it inter-changes like that throughout the three years! Being on placement quite early means you get hands-on experience almost immediately and I found that I learn so much on placement as it's all of the practical aspects you need to take into considerations too as you're in a hospital :smile:

We spend the full three years at one placement site, so in terms of accommodation, it's entirely up to you! I was in on-campus accommodation for first year (Athena Hall) and I loved it because there are lots of students there and it made it a lot easier to meet others and the accommodation provider put on Freshers events too. I then stayed in off-campus accommodation in second year with three of my friends who I'd met in first year and I enjoyed that too as we had more independence and space and it was cheaper too. I think it depends what you'd like out of the accommodation as to what you'd like to go for? AXO accommodation is really close to the waterfront building and it's cheaper than Athena Hall too. I've attached a link to our accommodation page here which gives you a better insight into the different accommodation options :smile:

However, because we're on placement for long periods at a time and my placement site is quite far away, I picked up additional student accommodation on-site at the hospital. Luckily, if you require two student accommodations, then you can claim back the entire cost of the cheapest one (only on certain healthcare courses but we can with diagnostic radiography) so that's definitely something to consider! Your placement site might be closer to Ipswich though so you might not need additional accommodation :smile:

I hope this helps and let me know if you have any other questions about the course!

Emma
3rd year diagnostic radiography student

Thanks Emma!
I was also wondering how long to book my accommodation for (43, 48 or 51 weeks)?

Reply 14

Original post by Loves_running

Thank you, this is so helpful! 🙂

I'm glad I could help @Loves_running! Let me know if you have any other questions and I'd be more than happy to answer them :smile:

Emma
3rd year diagnostic radiography student

Reply 15

Original post by Kiwi230

Thanks Emma!
I was also wondering how long to book my accommodation for (43, 48 or 51 weeks)?

Hi @Kiwi230! I had the exact same dilemma when I was looking to book accommodation too! After speaking to people already on the course and looking at my timetable etc. I went for the 42 week tenancy (that's what it was at the time) and it worked out perfectly because I moved in about a week before university lectures began and the tenancy ran out a couple of days after the university year had finished (end of June, although COVID-19 meant I moved out quite a lot earlier as everything switched online!!) You only need the 43 week tenancy to cover you for the year, but you can get a longer tenancy if you'd prefer to stay there for the summer too :smile:

I picked up additional accommodation at my placement site as it was quite far from the university and we would've finished first year with about a 7 week placement block (again, we weren't on placement due to COVID-19) so I wouldn't have been at Athena Hall at the end of first year anyway to need a longer tenancy or worry about moving out quickly! I think you're able to add on a few weeks onto your tenancy whilst you're there if you need to/ would like to, but I would discuss this with the accommodation provider :smile:

I hope this helps!!

Emma
3rd year diagnostic radiography student

Reply 16

Hi Emma,
Does Suffolk have x-rays, CT you can practise on? Do they use any app/software for simulations?

Reply 17

Original post by Loves_running

Hi Emma,
Does Suffolk have x-rays, CT you can practise on? Do they use any app/software for simulations?

Hi @Loves_running! The University of Suffolk currently has a Health and Wellbeing Quarter being built which will have a fully-functioning X-Ray suite and will be ready to use by this September! There is no CT suite on campus but we spend 60% of our time on placement so we learn to use the equipment then (as all hospital sites have slightly different equipment). However, a big part of radiography is positioning patients for different X-Ray examinations and you don't necessarily need an X-Ray suite to practice these positioning techniques so you can do it anywhere e.g. in your room. As far as myself and the lecturers are aware, there are not currently any apps being used. I hope this answers your questions! :smile:

Emma
3rd year diagnostic radiography student

Reply 18

Original post by University of Suffolk student

Hi @Loves_running! The University of Suffolk currently has a Health and Wellbeing Quarter being built which will have a fully-functioning X-Ray suite and will be ready to use by this September! There is no CT suite on campus but we spend 60% of our time on placement so we learn to use the equipment then (as all hospital sites have slightly different equipment). However, a big part of radiography is positioning patients for different X-Ray examinations and you don't necessarily need an X-Ray suite to practice these positioning techniques so you can do it anywhere e.g. in your room. As far as myself and the lecturers are aware, there are not currently any apps being used. I hope this answers your questions! :smile:

Emma
3rd year diagnostic radiography student

Thank you, Emma.
I know about the new building but was wondering how the previous students practised using all the equipment.
Regarding an app, at one of the open days at a different university their students showed us an app they use to practise memorising how to position a patient. It was quite cool 🙂

Reply 19