A101 Swansea 2017 Entry

Friendly, neighbourhood swansea medic here! Was great to see you all at the open day. Any questions, shoot!

1. why are you up so late?
2. what's your weekly/annual timetable like?
3. How is the food on campus?

1) Could ask the same of you?
Last exams finished today, so we're having a sensible 'dinner&drinks' affair that happens to last all night...and not involve dinner. I left early :P

2) Our years are long at 47 weeks! The course is CBL so Mondays we have case presentation and lectures till mid afternoon. Tuesdays are off for LOCS/LORS or GP, Wednesdays lectures build on mondays case finishing mid afternoon. Thursday is clinical skills - the year is split in half attending either morning or afternoon. You're then split into small groups of 6 or so and go around multiple stations learning skills relevant to the weeks case. Friday is plenary, discussion and optional basic science lectures for the non-science grads.

3) Food is generally good. Have a fair few places to eat on campus, reasonably cheap. We have a bar, JCs, which do good meals. Have a fusion restaurant in the union, and multiple starbucks and cafes dotted around campus. There's the hospital canteen too!

It was really good wasn't it! They were all so friendly and the current students only had good things to say about it. I think it's just topped my list compared to Notts!

I thought of this on the way home, and wondered if anyone else asked it - does anyone know if there is any Welsh courses available at the uni, just for basic stuff? I know that many people in South Wales don't really speak Welsh, but the more rural places do. Might be useful!

Sure! So when we arrived we had a quick welcome talk by Heidi and co (admissions directors), from there we were divided into smaller groups and assigned some current first year students which took us through to the clinical skills area. We had a practice of some clinical skills and a general chat with them, there was also a mini 'freshers fair' with medicine-related stalls. I think the main benefit of this was just the chance to chat to the students and their experiences of the process/course. Following this we had a talk around a week in the life of a medical student, which covered their general timetable etc. And lastly was basically a Q&A session with admissions covering interview, written test etc. Was just generally a really helpful day! Really enjoyed the feel and ethos of the medical school !

1) Could ask the same of you?
Last exams finished today, so we're having a sensible 'dinner&drinks' affair that happens to last all night...and not involve dinner. I left early :P

2) Our years are long at 47 weeks! The course is CBL so Mondays we have case presentation and lectures till mid afternoon. Tuesdays are off for LOCS/LORS or GP, Wednesdays lectures build on mondays case finishing mid afternoon. Thursday is clinical skills - the year is split in half attending either morning or afternoon. You're then split into small groups of 6 or so and go around multiple stations learning skills relevant to the weeks case. Friday is plenary, discussion and optional basic science lectures for the non-science grads.

3) Food is generally good. Have a fair few places to eat on campus, reasonably cheap. We have a bar, JCs, which do good meals. Have a fusion restaurant in the union, and multiple starbucks and cafes dotted around campus. There's the hospital canteen too!

Glad to see we've converted you!!
You have the opportunity to take a beginners Welsh for medicine course when you get here. You'll learn basic welsh, introductions, how to ask questions etc... You can continue and build on this across the years. You'd be surprised, many do speak it here especially the older age group.

Hello!

How does CBL work and how are you finding it as a teaching method? Also, how is anatomy taught at Swansea?

For clinical placements, which hospitals do people go to and how good/bad are transport links for them?

Also, do many medics tend to use the on campus accommodation or flatshare etc in first year? If flat/house where do people tend to live?

Was Swansea your first choice when applying?
Thanks!

That's excellent! Thanks for taking the time to reply I'll get started on my basic welsh now haha.

I think there's 1 guy living on campus this year. Everyone else shares houses in Brynmill, Sketty, Uplands or Townhill. Many commute in from Cardiff, or live in the much nicer (pricier) Mumbles. Rent is very cheap, campus is overpriced!

How did you guys manage to house share before you'd started? If that isn't a stupid question haha!

How did you guys manage to house share before you'd started? If that isn't a stupid question haha!

I didn't know the meet and greet thing was overnight. Do we stay in hotels overnight?

My parents want me to go for single sex accommodation and want me to stay in Mumbles or in the marina (with the nice looking apartments with good security) (which I doubt I'd be able to afford and I don't want to take money from them while at uni).

With us, most people stayed in the premier inn in the city centre. Right next to Wind Street so no problem getting back after the night out. Marina's gonna set you back anywhere from £700-1500+ a month without bills. Bay campus accommodation is brand new, near the marina and you can request single sex if you'd prefer that over houseshare.

I've heard stories about Wind Street lol

Marina is really costly but I'd really like to be able to afford a car and decent food. I can't go for campus accommodation though because I want to keep a car. I'm fine with mixed sex though.

Do you have any students who live in areas outside of Swansea and commute?

Plenty commute in from Cardiff and other areas, it's completely doable especially if you're driving! It's about an hour by train and half hour walk to campus.