uclumedicalsociety
www.medicalsociety.org.uk
THE FACULTY GUIDE TO THE STUDENT ESTABLISHMENT
AT UCL MEDICAL SCHOOL
Joseph Yoav Dangoor
June 2013
uclumedicalsociety
Introduction
This guide describes the medical student societies, their structures and their roles, to reduce
confusion and help faculty access the framework.
The medical student societies broadly come under RUMS (Royal Free, University College and
Middlesex Students union) and the UCL Union Medical Society (Medsoc), both under the governance
and auspices of UCL Union (UCLU). Their respective structures are detailed herein.
RUMS
The Royal Free, University College and Middlesex Students is the medical student union, and is
responsible for the extracurricular recreational aspects of student life, particularly the medical students
sports teams and organised parties.
RUMS is led by its Senior President and several Vice-Presidents, with the support of the Medical and
Postgraduate Students Officer (MPSO) at UCLU. The MPSO is a full time officer at UCLU elected by
the student body and serving a one-year term.
RUMS is under the patronage of Dr. Paul Dilworth, Sub-Dean for Careers and consultant respiratory
physician at the Royal Free Hospital.
UCLU Medical Society
The medical society was established in 2011, and has grown rapidly with faculty support to provide
extracurricular education in the form of careers advice and general interest, as well as the
responsibility of delivering near-peer tuition within the medical school.
The Medical Society is led by its President, with a large committee comprised of three vice-presidents
and several section chairs (each section is a section of special interest, e.g. a section of psychiatry
which runs events to do with psychiatry). Each section chair has a subcommittee to help them in their
work, and each section has a patron to guide and support their efforts. There are fifteen sections as
of 2013.
The Medical Society is under the patronage of Professor Jane Dacre, Director of UCL Medical School.
Its sections of special interest are under the auspices of their respective patrons.
RUMS and UCLU Medical Society are independent of one another. They complement each other
with RUMS catering for social and sporting aspects, and the medical society providing
educational and careers opportunities. They function cooperatively.
UCLU Medical Society Council
Governance structure
President
Treasurer
Secretary
Publicity
Secretary
VP General
Medicine
sections
of special
interest
VP Medical
Specialties
VP Academic
Affairs
General
Practice
Critical Care &
Anaesthesia
Education Y1-3
Global Medicine
Medical
Leadership &
Management
Education Y4-6
Internal &
General
Medicine
Obstetrics &
Gynaecology
Research
Neurology
Orthopaedics
Debating
Radiology
Paediatrics
Psychiatry
Sports &
Exercise
medicine
uclumedicalsociety
Governance:
•
The President is responsible for the overall running of the society
•
The Secretary is next responsible for the running of the society, and primarily responsible for
orchestrating society activities and function.
•
The Treasurer is responsible for financial affairs, budgeting and sponsorship
•
The running of the sections is decentralised so that every Vice President (VP) is responsible for
the sections under their auspices, as illustrated in their diagram.
•
Every section has a chair, a patron and a subcommittee. The section chair is responsible for
running their section and attends council meetings.
•
Every role shown in the diagram holds a seat at society council meetings.
•
The society is bound by the regulations of UCL Union and all officers are democratically
elected at an annual general meeting usually held in March.
•
The president is accountable to the patron, to perform and lead the society in a suitable
direction, and to ask for support when required.
•
The committee draws on great support from UCL Medical School faculty.
•
Annual membership is compulsory £4, the minimum required by UCLU.
•
The designation of sections under Vice-Presidents for General Medicine or Medical Specialties
is principally to divide the workload and responsibility for a large number of sections and
activities.
The Division of Academic Affairs:
•
Academic affairs (primarily peer teaching and research) are handled by the Vice President for
Academic Affairs. They are responsible for accreditation and quality control of all relevant
activities in accordance with guidelines agreed with the medical school. They are also
responsible for new peer-teaching schemes as these are subject to the regulations to which
the medical society is held. This role is largely to do with quality control.
•
The Chair for Education is responsible for directing the extracurricular peer-teaching
programme and regulating it appropriately. This role is more specific to architecting and
executing the programme throughout the year.
•
The Chair for Research is responsible for encouraging students to participate in research
projects, creating research opportunities and managing a £10,000 grant to support students
undertaking research. The section of research is under the patronage and guidance of
Professor David Lomas, Dean of UCL Medical School.
RUMS
Governance structure
MPSO
President
VP Education
Y1-3
•
VP Education
Y4-6
VP Welfare
VP Events
Sports &
Societies
Officer
The MPSO acts to supervise and support RUMS as a paid full-time sabbatical officer elected
by the student body.
•
The president oversees the function of RUMS
•
The VPs for Education chair the respective committees and frameworks for student
representation within the medical school (see Staff-Student Consultative Committee
Governance Document 2012).
•
The VP for Welfare is responsible for handling student welfare issues when they arise and
drawing on appropriate support from faculty.
•
The VP for events is responsible for organising balls and parties
•
The Sports & Societies officer oversees the RUMS societies and sports teams. There are 19 of
these and they are available on the rums website: rums.uclu.org
DISCLAIMER: This guide is intended to provide a broad understanding of the student structure and contains information that may be
subject to change. It was written to the best of the author’s knowledge however it may contain inaccuracies.