Living in Nottingham halls while studying graduate medicine A101 in derby campus

Weird scenario I’m in..

But I am considering living in halls for the first year and commute to derby campus using the free hopper bus. I know that I would have to sacrifice waking up earlier to start my day and commute but I feel like for me the benefits of living on campus outweigh the costs.

Interested on peoples opinions, especially those who have actually done this or anything similar or are planning to do so next year? It’s annoying that they put those in the fast track course in another town…

Would really appreciate any messages :smile:

))

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 1

bloograpefroot

14

I don’t do this but ik someone that commutes from derby and is fine. Also many medical students be it doctors or nurses live on campus and commute to either queen Mary or derby so it won’t really be any different. Longer days obviously but it’ll be worth it to live on campus

Reply 2

xtragravity

7

I started a few years ago and back then most people lived in Derby, but some people did commute over from Nottingham and managed fine with the hopper bus. It was normally once people got into the clinical years then they'd migrate to Nottingham, but I think now it's become a lot more common for people to start GEM Nottingham and travel through. Personally I lived in a flatshare in Derby for pre-clinical years, then moved through to Nottingham, however I've had my fair share of placements at Derby and I'm well acquainted with the Hopper bus! My take on it is that Derby is a bit cheaper to live in, saves you the commute and will make it easier to socialise with people on the course. In Nottingham, rent's more expensive (especially halls) and working around the hopper bus timetable can be annoying. However there's more going on in Nottingham and if you're super keen to live on a Notts campus and can cope with the travel then it shouldn't be a problem.
If it's more that you're looking for halls type accommodation then there's Abbey Lodge in Derby - I've known quite a few GEM students to live there (although they've not had many positive things to say about it, other than the proximity to the medical school!).

Reply 3

StaticMedic

OP

6

Original post by xtragravity

I started a few years ago and back then most people lived in Derby, but some people did commute over from Nottingham and managed fine with the hopper bus. It was normally once people got into the clinical years then they'd migrate to Nottingham, but I think now it's become a lot more common for people to start GEM Nottingham and travel through. Personally I lived in a flatshare in Derby for pre-clinical years, then moved through to Nottingham, however I've had my fair share of placements at Derby and I'm well acquainted with the Hopper bus! My take on it is that Derby is a bit cheaper to live in, saves you the commute and will make it easier to socialise with people on the course. In Nottingham, rent's more expensive (especially halls) and working around the hopper bus timetable can be annoying. However there's more going on in Nottingham and if you're super keen to live on a Notts campus and can cope with the travel then it shouldn't be a problem.
If it's more that you're looking for halls type accommodation then there's Abbey Lodge in Derby - I've known quite a few GEM students to live there (although they've not had many positive things to say about it, other than the proximity to the medical school!).

Thanks so much for your response, hope ur enjoying your course.
Could I ask how punctual/on time are the hopper buses? Do they really pick u up and drop you off according to the timetable? For instance according to the timetable the hopper bus that leaves notts at 7:53 is set to arrive at derby at. 8:45. Would it be risky to take this bus for a 9am lecture or is it usually reliable?

And also regarding the placements after second year. What percentage of placements would you say are located at notts and what percentage are located elsewhere? I’ve heard that some locations are a big pain for people who don’t drive is this true?

Thanks so much!

Reply 4

xtragravity

7

Original post by StaticMedic

Thanks so much for your response, hope ur enjoying your course.
Could I ask how punctual/on time are the hopper buses? Do they really pick u up and drop you off according to the timetable? For instance according to the timetable the hopper bus that leaves notts at 7:53 is set to arrive at derby at. 8:45. Would it be risky to take this bus for a 9am lecture or is it usually reliable?

And also regarding the placements after second year. What percentage of placements would you say are located at notts and what percentage are located elsewhere? I’ve heard that some locations are a big pain for people who don’t drive is this true?

Thanks so much!

The Hopper bus is normally punctual and I've often found it gets in to Derby before 8:45 (really depends on traffic though). And it goes right to the medical school (at the back of the hospital) so it's pretty quick to get from the bus to the main lecture theatre/PBL rooms. I'd feel pretty confident about getting to a 9am lecture on that bus.
I'm a final year and the clinical phases have changed for all the years below me so I'm not really familiar with what the new clinical phases are like in terms of rotations/ length of placements now, but in general you'll get exposure to a range of different sites throughout the clinical phases. You'll definitely have some placements at QMC/City hospitals in Nottingham, and also at the Royal Derby, and then some time either at Chesterfield, Mansfield or Boston (used to be Lincoln as well but I don't think that happens now they've got a med school there). For example, my last clinical phase rotations were: Nottingham Medicine 8 weeks, Nottingham GP 4 weeks, Boston Critical illness 4 weeks, Mansfield Surgery 8 weeks, Derby MDD (ortho/rheum) 8 weeks. You can get multiple placements at the same location during the one year, but don't bank on it!
For sites that are further away (Mansfield, Boston, Chesterfield) you'll normally be offered onsite hospital accommodation for your placement (you don't need to pay for this) but for anything else you'll be expected to make your own way there. Some sites can be a pain to get to without a car (e.g. sometimes you might have to go to the community hospital in Derby, or the psychiatric hospitals in Nottingham) but you've also got to factor in how difficult it can be to park at some sites! For GP placements though they try to factor in car access when they allocate your site so it should be accessible by public transport if you don't have one.

Living in Nottingham halls while studying graduate medicine A101 in derby campus

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