Support

Non-Academic Support

A network of support is available to medical students and students are free to seek information and advice from a variety of sources:

  • Peer Family – the peer family scheme is organised by the Newcastle Medical and Dental Student Council. Students volunteer to become ‘peer parents’ and first year students are invited to join a ‘family’ providing a student led source of information, advice and support.
  • Personal Tutor – you will be allocated a Personal Tutor within the Medical School at the beginning of your first year, usually for the duration of your studies. You are asked to meet with your Personal Tutor at least twice per year during Phase 1, and their role is to provide an initial point of contact for any concerns you may have. Depending on the nature of your discussion they may refer you to other sources of support within the Medical School or the University. It’s important that you maintain contact with your Personal Tutor even if you don’t experience any difficulties, because they will be available to you as a referee for vacation jobs, etc.
  • Senior Pastoral Tutor – based in the Medical Student Office, the Senior Pastoral Tutor is available to all students and staff as a source of advice and information relating to student wellbeing.
  • Base Unit Staff – during stages 3 and 5 when you are allocated to a Base Unit, pastoral support will be available to you locally. Each Base Unit office has an Administrator and a Clinical Sub-Dean, and they would normally be your first point of contact regarding any issues which are impacting on your studies.

Personal Circumstances and Disability

It is important that if you believe you may have a particular circumstance which may impact on your study or which may require an adjustment to be made to your programme of study that you discuss this with us at an early stage prior to application. All medical students must meet the required standards as laid down by the GMC in Tomorrow’s Doctors 2009 which has patient safety at its heart.

Student Wellbeing Service

The University’s Student Wellbeing Service provides a confidential source of information, advice and guidance on a wide range of student support issues to enable all students to maximise their potential whilst at University.

Careers Advice

Traditionally many doctors have taken a rather passive approach to career management. Although for many this works out fine, there is evidence that lack of good careers advice and planning can result in doctors ending up in areas that they are unhappy with. There is a careers 'theme' that runs through the Newcastle medical curriculum which aims to help inform and skill you to be able to make good career decisions.

To find out more about the careers our graduates develop, please review the latest DLHE (Destination of Leavers from Higher Education) statistics for our graduates in:

There is a member of staff within the Medical School who can provide careers advice on a one to one basis, and there is a University Careers Adviser with special responsibility for medicine. The University Careers Service offers careers guidance and advice throughout your studies and up to 3 years after graduation.

Finance Advice

The Student Wellbeing Service offers specialist advice to students on all aspects of financial management, including student loans, NHS bursaries, and a range of discretionary funds available to students. Further information and contact details can be found at: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/students/wellbeing/finance/advice/index.htm.