UCD or RCSI?

pc11 wrote: »

I'll add it to the list of reasons why I hate the iPhone...

Just turn the auto-correct function off. I have.

i've heard that too, hopefully a current student can confirm? Also do UCD have the same policy (edit: in terms of helping with travel expenses)?

During clinical years at RCSI students on peripheral hospital rotations were always offered the choice between paid accomodation or travel allowance. Accomodation provided is in the form of student apartments or B&B (breakfast sorted each morning which is a bonus and helps reduce living expenses for the week). The travel allowance is E100 per week and geared towards covering petrol or public transport costs for commuting to and from the hospital daily - this is obviously very possible for the likes of Drogheda but not so practical for Waterford/Kilkenny etc. Some students get lucky and end up on a peripheral rotation close to their family home and so often elect for the travel allowance option whilst moving home for the 4-6 weeks......this allows them to pocket the leftovers as travel costs are greatly reduced. Similarly, some will carpool and all claim the allowance thereby diluting out their travel costs and saving overall.

In addition to the above, students on peripheral clinical attachments can avail of internet USB sticks from the college library for a deposit of E15. Granted it's probably not a huge saving in the grand scheme of things but it's nice not to have to fork out monthly to O2/Vodafone for data.


While the student accomodation is very basic I never had any serious issues with regards safety or the apartments themselves. The organisation from the college was consistent and very straight forward - there were never any issues when claiming the travel allowance at the end of each rotation.

That's that then - decision made!!

Just after I asked I found the answer in the frequently asked questions section on the UCD website- in the first 2 years gem and undergrads share 30% of lectures together. Do they graduate as one class though?

Just thought I'd chime in with the fact that in RCSI you get a laptop that is connected to their local servers. On which all your notes for each class is uploaded to along with a lot of other study material which I think (although haven't used it myself) would be a very neat way of keeping track of notes and subjects. I had the idea that in UCD you'd be hauling around books and books of notes

But i'm still very torn aswell between them. I'm somewhat leaning towards UCD given the size of the place and its training faculties.

iscr wrote: »

One thing I never imagined going into GEP programme and it really only hits you when you join up with the undergrads is the whole issue of respect and "self respect". GEPS tend to be treated like little gods in Sandyford and even more so in Blanchardstown because the 2 profs are very nice and very professional. One of them even posts on the boards.ie thread.The undergrads have a much rougher ride, a more "old school" type of teaching and when you enter 3rd year you get an awful let down because now they treat you like dirt. Here is an example of some of the student concerns- read it and judge yourself if you think you are tough enough to hack it. It's very easy to get yourself in trouble, if some tutor etc takes a disliking to you and by third year you are 51 K + interest in debt........ Just see what you think but don't be foolish and think "That will never happen to me":
To: All Fourth Medical
Subject: SC committee meeting update!

Hi guys!

Apologies in the delay for sending out this email, just wanted to update you on what went on in the meeting. I know a lot of you were in touch with various issues, we tried to discuss everything, however if you found that you haven't found an answer to your query don't hesitate to drop us an email and we'll try our best to help out!

1- When are retakes:
Retakes will definitely be in August, exact dates will be published in the next few weeks

2- More guidance on SSCA/Subi/final med in general:
Subis/SSCAs can be taken abroad however must be approved beforehand, a link will be provided soon by SARA that goes through criteria, and a form that needs to be filled out. Further information on final med will be provided as well.

3- Why can't we find out if OBGYN end of rotation was passed/failed + can we get feedback:
Prof shared that the reason he can't tell us if we passed or failed is because they wait for all the results from all the rotations and decide then where the curve lies on pass/fail. In terms of end of rotation feedback he says that the end of course OSCE is entirely unrelated to the long case format of end of year, so would not be useful. Feedback is however provided for case uploads, and students need to approach tutors at bedside tutorials and ask how their technique is etc. which would be more beneficial for long case exam.

4- Concerns over the pediatrics exam not being standardized/harder in some rotations than others:
Prof :)said that careful consideration is taken when picking exam topics, however he is happy to take our concerns on board and look into this.

5- Asking for our true marks for resit examinations even though they are capped at 50:
Students raised concerns that knowing true marks of resits will help us know how well we did. They agreed that this may be done and looked into as long as students realize that 50 will be on their transcript, and that the mark will be purely for feedback for students.

6- For the psych end of rotation exam feedback can be provided if students ask. however the grade, info whether passed or failed will not. Just general feedback on performance.

7- Info on end of year exams, what to expect in terms of Med/surge/gp osces/ data paper etc will be provided in terms of an examination QnA session where all of this will be addressed/answered. This will be set up shortly by admins

8- Concerns about students being bullied by consultants on rotations:
students should contact student welfare officers or SARA, and can choose to keep their concerns completely confidential. In the case of this happening on OBGYN, Prof :)shared that for this reason end of year exams are not done where you attended your rotation, So if you were in :rolleyes: your end of year will be in :rolleyes: Street/ :rolleyes: if you were in :rolleyes:s street you'd be in either Rotunda NMH etc, to avoid any student feeling victimized or 'hard done by' as a result of bad blood with certain consultants.

Finding out whether easter break will be given to us, need for more updated pastpapers, sharing concerns that the past psych osces were unfair will be pursued by us separately, and we'll be in touch with SARA/Prof separately and have an answer to you very soon.

On a final note, thanks to everyone who already signed up for paintball, if you haven't already please do! it'll be a lot of fun and you'll get 1000 free paintballs, all your gear etc provided, sooo email me and get yourself signed uup!

Aaaaaand sorry for sending out this email so late!

Your Class Reps,

What is your point, please, iscr?

iscr wrote: »

Oh, I have no point and the RCSI can not accuse me of having a "point" but focus on point 8 perhaps and have a think. It seems people feel they are bullied in the RCSI during their training. Would you be disappointed after you have spent 51 K on your education in the RCSI, the most expensive Graduate Entry course to discover you are being bullied for the pleasure? Don't be fools. Go for UCD. I'm sticking my neck out "whistleblowing" here guys!

If you read the SU letter too you'll detect subtle problems in administration- like they couldn't tell you if you were off for the break or not until the break was upon us. Or the way they do things like schedule an exam on the exam timetable and tell you the day before it's now a 1 1/2 hours longer than the timetable says as happened in our Med/Surg/ GP exam. A lot of people are employed in administration and a lot of your huge GEP fees is consumed by administration (probably why RCSI is so expensive) but what benefit do you get for all the people employed who cannot schedule final exam until the last second?

The exam timetable (up to the day before):
SC1
MEDICINE/SURGERY & GENERAL PRACTICE WRITTEN
21/05/2013
Tuesday
09:30 - 13:00
Exams Hall
Written

This is a letter from the class reps on Monday 20th about the Med/Surg/ GP final next day. Judge for yourself the respect the RCSI admin has for students:
Hey class,

I didn't see there was a change in our timetabling for tomorrow until Facebook. But we are trying to sort it out the best we can. Will keep everyone updated if anything changes or happens.

Cheers.
Your Class Reps

Almost comical? Almost like a scene from "Fawlty Towers"- "Ah Major, we have a bit of a problem. It seems that exam tomorrow is a bit longer than we thought...by 90 minutes only " "What Fawlty?".

The RCSI GEP program is a lousy deal after 2nd year and the GEP directors wash their hands of your care after that. Shame on them. The GEP fees generate almost 9 million per year in revenue for the college........and this is the value for money you get?

Well, thanks for information and good luck with your exams.

I've been reading the blog by an RCSI student: http://doc2be.ie/
It's quite informative but unfortunately, she disappears after second year of the GEM program. So what happens in year 3 and 4 of GEM at RCSI, please?

Years 1 and 2 at RCSI sound marvellous. But there is less concrete information about years 3 and 4. It does make me wonder...

It's good to hear some of the bad stuff, everyone generally seems to sugarcoat their college, out of pride or for whatever reason. I want to hear the bad and the good so thanks ISCR. I'm leaning more towards UCD these days, not that I don't doubt that it has it's own faults too.

At the moment UCD is my number 1 choice because:

A) I don't fancy trying to come up with the extra fees every year for RCSI on top of the increase in fees that may (/will definitely) occur.

I went to a small college the first time around so I like the idea of being part of a larger college (only a small consideration)

C) The sports facilities are a factor (although it sounds like I'll be so busy with college, study and my part time job that I may not have time for availing of them )

D) I like the idea of the larger class, more people to get to know and mingle with.

E)I like staying in one campus and not having to move to a different campus to do different classes. It's fine when the weather is like today but the thought of standing outside waiting on the luas in the rain, snow, wind and all the other delightful weather this island usually sees doesn't appeal to me.

F) Longer summer holidays to work (this is a major issue for me) as it is I will be under pressure to fit in work and study so to have extra time in summer for breathing space.

G) I loved the facilities that the new UCD building offers

H) I vaguely remember coming across a post that the exams are before Christmas in UCD and after in RCSI. Not a huge consideration obviously, but having done exams both before and after in other courses I definitely prefer to have them out of the way and be able to relax for the holidays instead of being guilt ridden every time I deviate from study to go get a handful of roses and watch National Lampoons Christmas Vacation.

I am slightly worried from looking through graduation photos of ucd's class that everyone seems quite young. I'll be 27 starting the course, not old per se, but I don't want to be the auld one in the class because everyone around me is 21.

I attended the RCSI graduation last week and it was great. There was no distinction between the GEM's and the undergrads. Still not sure if this is the case in UCD, found some class photos of UCD but undergrads and GEM's were in separate photos. I don't like the idea of been separated or viewed as being a different class. So I'm hoping someone can confirm or deny this.

My reasons are pretty much the same as other peoples, I think a certain amount of it comes down to gut feeling. Clearly all the colleges offer an excellent standard, bar the few faults people have mentioned. In saying all that, I change my mind on a daily basis!