MedSoc Review 2022-23

MEDSOC REVIEW 2022-23

WELCOME & PRESIDENT'S REVIEW

Hi everyone! I?m Jamie, the University of Birmingham MedSoc Secretary this year. I?ve been compiling submissions from our fantastic societies, sports and charities throughout the summer, and I?m excited to present to you this year?s MedSoc Review, celebrating all their wonderful achievements. It has been great to hear from so many areas of MedSoc and I hope you enjoy reading about how incredible our members and groups are as much as I have!

A massive thank you to everyone who has contributed towards this MedSoc Review, and best of luck to the new presidents - I look forward to seeing you all continue adding to these accomplishments!

MedSoc love,

Jamie MedSoc Secretary 2023-24

Hello everyone - I'm Grace, the President of Birmingham Medical Society for 2023/24! As ever, we are the biggest and undoubtedly (in my opinion) the best medical society in the country! This year, membership numbers have topped 4500 students from across medical and healthcare courses and beyond as we continue to grow. We also surpassed 80 groups and societies entering the new academic year, with many new groups having formed in the past few months! In the last year, Med Soc and all our groups have been back in full swing, with Covid and Zoom events seeming like ancient history!

This year has seen our sports excel across the board. Men's football were crowned double NAMS champions, beating long-time rivals Cardiff Medics 3-0 in an emphatic victory in the NAMS final and also winning the NAMS Day tournament.

JAMIE MCGINN SECRETARY

GRACE WESTLAND PRESIDENT

Women's football also won NAMS, to retain their title! Women's Rugby made history by making it to the first ever Women's Rugby NAMS final at Grasshoppers RFC in London, despite it not being their day in the end, they continue to go from strength to strength and we look forward to seeing what's in store this season! Our men?s and women's rugby teams also got to play at the home of Rugby - Twickenham - in their 7s tournament! Hockey maintained their title as NAMS champion for the 5th year in a row! A special mention must also go to our sport of the year, Netball, who have grown significantly this year - now with 9 teams! Our academic and interest societies have been thriving having in person events again, with some fantastic conferences taking place in the Med School. SurgSoc hosted a very success Birmingham Annual Surgical Expo, Docs not Cops were highly praised for their fantastic conference, Birmingham Widening Access Society continued to run numerous conferences for school students, the Sports Medicine Society hosted a conference focusing on the very topical Women's Health in sport, and many other incredible events took place, but I really would be here all day telling you about them.

Our socials were as excellent as ever, from the Hop beginning at Heidi'severyone's new favourite club - to the Christmas party returning to Luna Springs for another fabulous festival soirée. MedBall's Secret Garden theme brightened up a rainy February and was a brilliant evening enjoyed by all - we can't wait to do it again this February! The Gower camping trip rounded off the year, with the nicest weather we've seen there in many years. Our new entertainment reps and Vice President Social have already put so much work into some exciting socials for Freshers and the rest of the year - did someone say more Sports night and Fab tickets for MedSoc??

MedSoc academics introduced new roles to help freshers adjust to academic life at Med School - with second year students across all MDS courses taking on the role of Freshers Academic Reps. The revision series for summer and winter exams ran as usual, whilst new events were added to the repertoire - such as exam advice sessions and clinical teaching! The inaugural Big OSCE Revision Day took place, seeing nearly 200 third years participate in mock OSCE cycles and workshops facilitated by 60 student and junior doctor volunteers, preparing them for their first experience of OSCE exams.

The event was a huge success and won two awards - congratulations team!

The year has not been without challenges, but the committee made great efforts to overcome these and smooth relations with the Guild. We hope this will continue this year and our working relationship will blossom to make things better for all sides. I am so grateful to have an incredible committee to run Med Soc with and I am so excited to see what we get up to this year! It is an absolute honour to be the President of such a thriving society and I hope I can do it justice!

I can't wait to see you all very soon!

Here's to another year of fun! Long live MedSoc!

Grace Westland - MedSoc President 2023/24

CONTENTS

Welcome Sports

- Badminton

- Basketball

- MedRun

- MedSwim

- Men's Football (UBMSFC)

- Men's Rugby (UBMSRFC)

- Mixed Hockey (UBMSHC)

- Netball

- Squash

- Women's Football (BMWFC)

- Women's Rugby (UBMSWRFC)

Societies

- AnatomySoc

- Christian Medical Fellowship (CMF)

- Comedy Revue

- Dance

- Debate Soc

- DermSoc

- Earth Resus Team

- Emergency Medicine Society (BEMS)

- GPSoc

- HaemSoc

- Islamic Medical Society (IMED)

- Jewish Medical Society (JMED)

- LGBTQ+ Society

- MedSoc Create

- MedYoga

- NeuroSoc

- NurseSoc

- OncSoc

- Palliative Care Society

- Performing Arts Society (ARTE)

- PharmSoc

- Phoenix Project

SPORTS

BADMINTON

The 2022/23 season has been one of the best for UBMS badminton thanks to the hard-work of our committee and co-Presidents Kelvin Jang and Gabriel Wong. Our memberships have grown these recent years and this year was no different. We are proud to have players of different courses, years and abilities and it is our pleasure to help them develop their love for badminton!

This was the second year we ran our internal league and we successfully played four competitive tournaments throughout the season. Perhaps our greatest achievement was not only hosting the NAMS tournament but also winning it! Our NAMS rep Elisa Wennekes organised this brilliantly and saw over a hundred players from 12 medical schools Under the leadership of our captains Steven Ling and Tharuka Arachchige, our players outdid themselves and brought home the title of NAMS 2022/23 winners, making us the best medsoc badminton club in the country (or at least that?s what we think)! Our players have also performed exceptionally well in the Solihull league, Northern cup and varsities against medical schools like Leeds and Nottingham.

Aside from our more serious competitions we hosted our annual fancy dress charity Christmas tournament, in which we donated 46.5kg worth of food to families in need. Our social secs Sanjana Cherukad and Freya Allen have done a fantastic job putting together some amazing socials and events for our members such as dinners, bowling, games nights, quizzes and nights out. This year has been one of our best to date and we are excited to build on our successes for the future.

BASKETBALL

UBMS Basketball were derecognised as a society a few years ago. After facing numerous obstacles, including financial and logistical challenges, we had a resolute comeback this January - We launched a series of training sessions every weekend throughout the term, with an encouraging turnout of 25 participants attending our initial taster session. Since then, we have cultivated a dedicated group of regular attendees who eagerly join us each week.

Our achievements have been multi-faceted and impactful. Primarily, we have made significant strides in improving basketball skills among our members, focusing on key areas such as dribbling, shooting, and running plays. Through structured training sessions, individuals have witnessed notable progress in their techniques and game understanding, fostering a sense of personal growth and accomplishment.

In addition to skill development, UBMS Basketball has played a vital role in fostering new friendships. Our society provides a welcoming and inclusive environment that brings together individuals from diverse backgrounds. Through the shared passion for basketball, we have facilitated the formation of strong bonds and lasting connections within our community. Witnessing the camaraderie and support among our members has been a source of great satisfaction.

UBMS Basketball has embraced players of all skill levels, catering to both newcomers and experienced individuals. By providing an inclusive space, we enable people from varying backgrounds and abilities to revel in the joys of basketball. Looking ahead, our vision for the upcoming year includes expanding our impact even further. We plan to increase the frequency of our weekly sessions, allowing for more opportunities to enhance skills and foster a deeper love for the game Additionally, we aim to introduce competitive games into our schedule, providing a platform for members to apply their newfound abilities in a challenging and engaging setting

Our small, closeknit MedRun community have enjoyed holding our weekly 5-10km runs, enjoying the longer evenings and venturing to Cannon Hill Park on a regular basis. We have also started meeting on a Saturday morning bright and early to go to the Cannon Hill Parkrun event, often meeting afterwards for a much-deserved Costa. As always, we have welcomed people of all abilities, splitting into smaller groups of different paces, and if the groups are large enough, completing different length runs. A small group of us also completed the Great Birmingham 10k/half marathon in May 2023, the perfect reliever of revision stress. We have held a variety of socials, including bowling, a meal at Dilshads, and a Sunday morning walk around Lickey Hills. We look forward to welcoming new members into our MedRun family.

MEDSWIM

Medswim has been causing a big splash this year! Throughout the course of the year, we have had a consistently good turnout to our bi-weekly sessions. We have made sure that these sessions cater to all abilities with options of relaxed swimming, sets and fun relays/challenges. One major change made this year is encouraging more experienced swimmers to share tips on how to improve swimming skills.

We have also been making waves with our socials, which have been much more frequent than previous years. Over the course of this year, we have organised a variety of activities like bowling, pizzas, pub trips, and the obligatory Dilshads (with an unforgettable chilli eating competition!). As a result, we are a really close group ready to add more members next year! Our focus for next year is to grow our numbers further and maybe create some friendly competitions.

MEN'S FOOTBALL (UBMSFC)

The 2022/23 season saw UBMSFC continue to thrive as a club. There are plenty of things to look back on with pride. This year, the 1st XI managed to write their way into the history books by winning the NAMS final as well as the Day NAMS competition (the first wins for the club in either competition). The 2nd XI also produced strong performances in both competitions against the 1st XIs of other medical schools, with the 3rd XI having a successful run in the NAMS2 cup. The 4th XI (formed last season) has also gone from strength to strength in the University?s campus league. These achievements showcase the ever-increasing depth of talent at the club.

Aside from success on the pitch, the club has also been involved in several large charity efforts, raising money for causes such as MIND, Movember and Birmingham Marrow It has been a great year for the club, culminating in being voted the MedSoc Society of the Month at the close of this fantastic season. We look forward to the year ahead, and the continued development of such a deeply loved club.

MEN'S RUGBY (UBMSRFC)

In a surprise to absolutely no one, UBMSRFC had another catastrophically impressive year.

Kicking off with a recruitment drive of over 20 new players joining the club from across all MedSoc courses at our open training session, it was a great day of rugby, food and drink. We had a successful season on the pitch pre-Christmas, with both the 1st XV and the AirSharks topping their NAMS groups. After some hard fought quarter-finals, with footage recorded on our new VEO camera system, both teams unfortunately could not progress beyond the SF. We hope to go one better next season!

Off the pitch this has been a fantastic year for the club. In the Autumn we enjoyed a quiet and sophisticated tour to the Big Smoke, London, for some wholesome fun and happy memories. The club also worked hard to raise money for great causes, including CALM, Marrow and Stonewall, with charity matches and rainbow lace campaigns. To celebrate the 65th anniversary of the rugby club, we held our annual anniversary dinner at Worcester Rugby Club. With 100 old boys, and 50 current boys in attendance, this was an event of epic proportions and a night that was not to be missed. Another one for the history books. To round off the season, the boys were welcomed to HQ, Twickenham Stadium, for an exhibition 7?s game at the World Series. They faced off against Imperial Medics and beat them comprehensively 42-12.

Big things lie ahead for The Cloob, you do not want to miss next season.

MIXED HOCKEY (UBMSHC)

MedSoc Hockey is the biggest & best mixed sports club at UoB, with something for everyone. Last year we absolutely smashed it with success on the pitch, in the socials and on tour. And we think 2023-24 - our 50th anniversary - could be our best year yet. So if you?re new to UBMSHC, or you were here but it?s all a bit blurred - this is what you missed and the sort of thing you can look forward to this year?

The season commenced with a big intake of freshers who integrated brilliantly into our five teams, from the 1st team competing nationally to retain the coveted ?NAMS?trophy, to our 5th team which saw players pick up a stick for the first time.

Off the pitch, we held legendary socials including a paint party, Christmas dinner, fox & hounds pub crawl pursuits, and endless nights out to discover the delights of Brum. We also ventured further away, with excellent tours that saw us travel across the globe, from Southampton to Lisbon! To top it all off, we raised over £700 for charity running the Brum half marathon.

We can? t wait for another exceptional year of hockey, and we look forward to welcoming all the new faces!

NETBALL

We have had another fantastic year, demonstrated by winning Medsoc sport of the year 22/23! We have had all 9 of our teams playing in leagues throughout the year with some great results. A brilliant year for our 1s and 2s with the 1s winning the Premier division of the Worcester Netball league, and the 2s coming runners up in NAMS. Our other teams did very well in their respective leagues; 3s, 4s and 5s all came third, and our 6s and freshers team came second.

Not only have we played netball, but we have enjoyed lots of sports nights, curry nights, pub crawls, and the infamous annual netball tour The 2023 tour destination of Leeds made for an amazing circus-themed weekend for 50 of us, including lots of eating out, a surprise trampolining activity and nights out in the big city. We ended the year celebrating all the achievements at the Netball Ball which was a night to remember!

Our teams have been entered into Worcester netball league, Birmingham netball league, Go mammoth and Birmingham match night and have already started summer training. We can? t wait to get properly started in September and are very excited for the upcoming year!

SQUASH

Medsoc's favourite sports society absolutely squashed its way through 2022/23 with more new members, socials and tournaments it?s been an absolute blast!!

After the amazing showcase of the UoB squash courts at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth games many people have been inspired to give squash a go! The weekly sessions on Wednesdays and Saturdays have been attended by students from a whole range of courses and year groups with something for everyone whether you?re a squash pro or never picked up a racket (yet)!

The annual NAMs tournament saw Birmingham host players from Cardiff and Sheffield for a big weekend of squash, socials and silliness. Please if you are able to pick up a racket JOIN us, so Cardiff doesn? t take the title for the 3rd year running!

This year Medsoc squash took part in a fun inter-racket sport charity event where we played Medsoc tennis and badminton. Lots of money was raised and we learnt that tennis is pretty tricky!

UMBS squash 23-24 is going to be unstoppable; plans include more tournaments against other med schools, an even bigger and better NAMS and more socials. Huge thanks to the outgoing committee! Hopefully see you there!

WOMEN'S FOOTBALL (BMWFC)

This year BMWFC saw a big intake of Freshers off the back of the Lioness?s success in the Euros, we welcomed new members from all years- first years that were new to the uni and 4th year Medics deciding to try something new. Lots of football was played this year in our weekly training and competitive matches. Following a recent promotion in the league, we pushed ourselves in our weekly fixtures and showed how strong of a team we are, we were also crowned regional NAMS champions for the second year in a row making us really proud to

represent our university as women in sport. We also played friendly games against other football clubs creating opportunities for all members, including the less experienced players to get some good practice and show off their newfound skills. As well as football, we had great socials including watching Lionesses play, pub golf, welcome drinks and so much more!! We went on our famous tour where we spent the weekend in Manchester on the biggest tour ever done by BMWFC!! It was such a great weekend where new members of the team really bonded with the older years. We cannot wait to see the return of our tour going abroad (which was stopped thanks to covid) and all the other great socials and football, we?re so excited to see what this year holds for BMWFC.

WOMEN'S RUGBY (UBMSWRFC)

2022/2023 has been UBMSWRFC?s best year yet! We have played more matches than ever before, established and competed in the first women?s rugby NAMS league, and strengthened our team beyond belief. On top of NAMS games, we held our inter-family 7s day, played in plenty of local fixtures, and some of our ladies even took part in a 7s tournament at Twickenham! Our progress has been non-stop, and we have surpassed even our own expectations.

Our social calendar this year included a tour to York. Despite endless red tape, our social secs worked tirelessly to make this happen This was of course a weekend of class & culture, and everyone had a fantastic time. After family meals, welcome drinks, and more, this year?s socials were capped off by the infamous Rugby Dinner. This year the dinner raised money for MS Society UK, supporting those suffering with multiple sclerosis.

The year ended in us reaching our NAMS final. Though we missed out on the win, this was a fantastic day for our club, and we ended to season in high spirits. It has been incredible to see so many new birds develop into fully-fledged rugby players. Our standard is better than ever, and we are so excited for the new year.

SOCIETIES

ANATOMYSOC

Birmingham AnatomySoc has had another successful year in helping to amend the underwhelming perceptions of Birmingham students?anatomy knowledge! We kicked off the year with our annual, well-attended ?How to Study Anatomy at Birmingham?talk, with committee members sharing their tips and tricks with the pre-clinical years. Following this, our current intercalated Clinical Anatomy students shared their experiences of applying to, and studying, Clinical Anatomy - with very few tears shed! We also continued to deliver our exam revision sessions, with overwhelmingly positive support from hundreds of attendees across the pre-clinical years. A massive thank you to everyone who taught any of our sessions this year for all of the effort they put in - we couldn? t have done it without you! We?re looking forward to another fantastic year of peer-to-peer revision sessions, and we hope to see you there!

CHRISTIAN MEDICAL FELLOWSHIP (CMF)

This year?s activities began with a BBQ over in Knowle with the whole of CMF West Midlands. It was a great opportunity to meet with junior and senior doctors as well as people from other areas of medicine. At the fresher?s fayre we advertised CMF and the dental equivalent too (CDF). We met loads of people interested in our society from many different disciplines. Our committee represented multiple courses this year as did our society as a whole; we have medics, biomedics, physios and pharmacy students all participating in our meetings. As a result, we have also been to be a part of Christians in Allied Health (CIAH) regionally and be involved in some of their meetings too.

Some of our students have been able to access elective projects and mentoring schemes through CMF regionally and nationally too. Our pre-clinical students met regularly to chat & catch up, pray together, read the Bible and discuss ethical issues which provided a great community to be a part of. We also had our day away in November, where we gathered to eat and learn from a senior stroke rehab consultant and their experiences as a Christian in healthcare. Many of us headed to the CMF national student weekend away where we connected with other Christian healthcare students from around the UK! This coming summer, a few of our students will be attending the International Christian Medical and Dental Association (ICMDA) conference in Tanzania & we can? t wait to hear the stories when they return! 22/23 has been an awesome year & we can? t wait for more of the same next year!

COMEDY REVUE

Comedy Revue had another amazing year ending with a 2-day showcase of comedy all in aid of a good cause This year we raised over £1600 for Anawim, a local women's charity based in Balsall Heath. Our weekly Wednesday evening meetings allowed us to hone our skills and bring lots of laughter to the ATH in February. Warming up with some quick one-liners then moving on to scenes with props and all, this year did not disappoint! We are looking forward to 2024 where we hope to do the same again with some socials to the Glee Club in town where the professionals can show us how it's really done.

DANCE

MedSoc Dance is a thriving and inclusive society that has continued to grow over the years, last academic year having the most members we have ever had. We boast 11 different dance styles and hold 13 weekly dance classes open to everyone of all abilities. These are fully led by student volunteers across a range of MedSoc courses. We hold an annual December dance show across 2 days to showcase our classes and our incredible members. This always raises a substantial amount of money for charity - last year our shows raised £2,098 for PAUSE and Kinmos charities and we are so proud of the hard work everyone put into achieving this We also have a performance group that works alongside other societies to perform and support at university events throughout the year Last year, our group performed at BEAT UoB to support their Budget Ball Cabaret Night and also performed at the Guild Awards. We have already started planning towards this year's shows and performances and are looking to raise more money for charity than ever. We always welcome anyone to come and join us, even if you have never danced before - MedSoc Dance will always be open to everyone!

DEBATE SOC

MedSoc debate has had another fantastic year filled with so many new collaborations and exciting themes! We?re very happy to have consistent members show up for our topics each week and this number has only been growing :)

Some of our favourite moments over the past year include our debates on topics such as the controversial Qatar World Cup, healthcare worker strikes, and animal testing! We?ve also had some incredible collaborations with medsoc create and ERT,and hope to have even more.

This year we?ve got some sessions planned on running a more formal style to debate, but we plan on continuing our informal style debates so absolutely everyone is welcome

DERMSOC

2022 to 2023 has been an exciting and eventful year for DermSoc! We have held a huge range of academic events including our lecture series, OSCE revision event, common dermatological conditions in GP and skin oncology. We also hosted career building events to help budding dermatologists boost their dermatology portfolio, including an elective's evening talk and 'how to get into dermatology.'

Alongside our academic events, we participated in the annual Battle of the DermSocs to fundraise for the British Skin Foundation! We were able to fundraise over £700 through two huge bake sales, a wellness event in collaboration with YogaSoc, making Secret Santa and Galentine's cards and finally our raffle which included 5 prizes each worth over £100! We also volunteered with Saving Skin and the Teddy Bear Hospital to promote sun safety to young children.

We look forward to seeing what the next year can bring and hope to inspire more students in dermatology!

EARTH RESUS TEAM

This was a really exciting year for ERT! We ran workshops and talks on a diverse range of topics including climate justice and child health, sustainable surgery and the ethics of sustainable transport. We loved collaborating with other societies like Plastic Free UoB, who we organised litter picks with, and Medsoc Create, who ran a great session on reworking and repairing clothes! A highlight of the year was promoting sustainability at Medball, which is one of the biggest events on the Medsoc calendar. Next year, we're looking forward to working closely with the Medical School to include more planetary health content in the curriculum, and networking with clinical staff who are leading sustainability QI projects in local hospitals and GP practices Environmental problems can seem complex and daunting, but collectively we hope to make a big impact in our sphere of influence!

Instagram - @earthresusteam

Facebook - Earth Resus Team

EMERGENCY MEDICINE SOCIETY (BEMS)

BEMS have had an exciting year growing from strength to strength as we were officially re-instated as a Guild society once again! To kick off the year we hosted an online lecture series where leading professionals delivered amazing talks attracting a wide range of students who wanted to learn about 'Knife Crime', 'Search and Rescue Medicine' and 'Life as an Antarctic Expedition Doctor' (just a few of our lecture topics!).

Then it was time for over 40 of our members to travel to Stoke for the annual Trauma Care Conference after getting a nice discount on tickets arranged by BEMS! We left the conference raring to get planning our own which happened in February. 50 tickets were purchased to our inaugural conference which saw attendees spend their day travelling through A&E beginning in 'Minors' and ending in 'Resus'. To start the day we heard from Emergency Department Practitioner Ben and then practiced suture skills in our practical workshop. It was then time to hear from Consultant Liaison Psychiatrist (and PAN co-lead) Dr Emma Barrow and Emergency Medicine Consultant and Wing Commander Dr Kate Clayton before more hands-on workshops practicing primary surveys and needle decompression! To round of a fabulous day, we heard from Trauma Surgeon and Pre-Hospital Emergency Medicine Doctor Mr Emir Battaloglu!

After the excitement of our Conference, there was room for one last activity to bring the year to a close. BEMS hosted a 'Trauma Awareness Evening' where over 30 Medical Students learnt and practiced essential trauma skills relevant to the pre-hospital setting This evening was overseen by Dr John Hall from The Faculty of Pre-Hospital Care. Students in attendance will now be able to join the team of Medical Students at UoB who volunteer with Police, Firearms and Fire Brigade services as specialised actors in their medic training!

It has been a wonderful year here at BEMS, and we truly cannot wait for the year ahead!

This year has possibly been the GP Society's most successful year to date! We?ve managed to have a large increase in members since the start of the 2022/2023 academic year; we?re so glad that more people are taking interest in this exciting career.

We started out with a talk by our beloved Professor Kate Thomas, who talked about how she feels to be at the ?end of an era?since retiring from working as a GP and her involvement within medical education.

This year we also had the honour of winning the prestigious 'best GP society of the year award' from the Royal College of General Practice following our annual conference in 2022! The conference was a massive success and featured talks from our keynote speakers, which included the new RCGP chair and social media medical student Natasha Binnie. We also held several workshops on a variety of topics, such as interests outside of medicine and medicine abroad. Alongside our conference we were able to raise over £130 for our chosen charity of the year ' Home away from Hospital'!

In addition, our society organised several prescribing workshops to assist the final year medical students with their upcoming foundation jobs. We have a wonderful, busy year planned for 2022-2023, including our annual events and introducing CBM workshops. We look forward to seeing you at our events!

HAEMSOC

Welcome to UoB and to the Medical School! We are HaemSoc, a society for students looking to explore the world of haematology. Haematology is a fast-growing area of medicine that looks after patients with disorders of blood and bone marrow. We?re here to nurture your interest by supporting you with your revision, develop your knowledge with lectures, and explore the practicalities of what we learn in Medical School.

The main event of the year was our virtual Annual Undergraduate Conference, a collaboration with the University of Liverpool HaemSoc, which hosted exciting talks and interactive workshops delivered by leading haematologists! We also teamed up OncSoc again to deliver our famous Christmas Quiz! We are also working hard to promote and educate on blood donation, so keep an eye out for future charity events!

Healthcare students from all courses are invited to & encouraged to get involved with the society and all our events! We have an exciting, busy year planned for 2023-2024, so keep up to date with us on Facebook and Instagram. We look forward to seeing you at our future events!

ISLAMIC MEDICAL SOCIETY (IMED)

The Islamic Medical Society is a community focused on developing its members not only academically, but also spiritually and socially!

We started our year off with Freshers Fortnight alongside UoB Islamic Society (UBISOC) where we ran events such as our meet and greet, sports, hide and seek and much more! Soon after followed Charity Week, an amazing campaign (once again with UBISOC) including running the infamous donut 'n' samosa stalls throughout the week, a quiz night, formal Charity Week dinner and a trek up a summit! Last year we raised almost £60k!!!

The ?Believe and Do Good?Campaign is one of the highlights of our calendar! This past year we organised a range of activities to partake in, including a blood drive, bake sales, homeless shelter volunteering and creative acts of kindness spread throughout campus! We also continued to provide widening access opportunities to MDS courses through supporting Central Mosque's Mock MMIs.

We had a special focus on the well-being of our members, through a range of different events, from halaqahs to our mental health talks, planned by our IMed Minds Reps! We also provided academic support through our survival talks and OSCE series and ran several smaller socials.

IMed is not only a community or society, but a family away from home all about providing its members opportunities to make the most out of university whilst making a difference and bettering the lives of those around us.

JEWISH MEDICAL SOCIETY (JMED)

We are a small, inclusive society, providing a Jewish community for those students in the healthcare sector at UoB, running events throughout the year that both coincide with Jewish festivals and independently of them. We started off our year with a meet the committee social to really kickstart our community feel for the year, and told prospective members about the events we would be running (accompanied by snacks of course!) These included socials centred around festivals (Chanukah and Purim), multiple delicious four course Friday night dinners brought to us by Chaplaincy, and being a point of call for any revision tips for the younger years doing exams. We can't wait for this year for more socials, dinners, brunches, academic events, and bringing back our blood drive and Mitzvah day activities, so please come find us at the freshers fair if you would like to be a part of the JMED community!

LGBTQ+ SOCIETY

2022/2023 has been a brilliant year for Medsoc LGBTQ+! Across the year we've held picnics in the sun, taken part in the Birmingham Pride March, got dressed up for weekend brunches, and enjoyed a cheeky gales night out! We were also very lucky to have Greg Owen deliver a talk about his activism in LGBTQ+ health and how he campaigned to have PrEP become available on the NHS! Here at Medsoc LGBTQ+ we always aim to give students a safe and supportive environment to be their true self, as well as always being here to help students through hard times and signposting to the relevant people. We've wrote and signed open letters supporting and defending LGBTQ+ rights within the university and medicine, and continue to have a leading role in representing LGBTQ+ people within the medical school.

We can't wait for all the fun to be had in 2023/2024, and we can't wait for all the new members who join us!

MEDSOC CREATE MEDYOGA

Medsoc create has had a fantastic first year and we hope to continue growing the society this year! Some of our favourite sessions this year includes our Bob Ross guided session, claypot making, and embroidery, and this year we aim to host even more themed weeks!

Our collaborations with other medsoc societies such as debate, ERT and ARTE have been incredible and were such fun ways to introduce creativity in different fields. We?ve got a couple more exciting things planned this year, such as more society collabs and possibly a field trip to the Birmingham museum and art gallery!

Last year we were so excited to win MedSoc?s society of the year - we know that as medics it?s important to find time to destress and practice mindfulness. Regardless of whether you?ve painted for years or have never used a paintbrush before, we would love to see you there :)

Within MedYoga we are continuing to achieve our main goal of providing yoga sessions free of charge and at the convenience of all students at the Medical School. Every year we welcome new faces of all courses and ages to our sessions, and our committee.

In this last year, we have organised multiple weekly classes making sure to cater to different levels of experience. With great enthusiasm from our members, we organised a social hot-yoga event with a successful turnout. We have continued to collaborate with other societies this year, such as dermsoc, to promote our messages of wellbeing. We also offered our dedicated yoga-members and committee merchandise jumpers, a long awaited mission.

We hope to continue these projects; creating more opportunities for collaborations and social events on top of our weekly classes. We are looking forward to welcoming new faces to our yoga sessions and will encourage freshers especially to give yoga a go!

Our society would also like to invite any of our members who are interested in teaching yoga or getting more involved in the society to help us expand the committee further.

Hey MedSoc members! NeuroSoc had a fantastic end to 2022 and beginning of 2023 that we cannot wait to continue with our new Committee. Last year we hosted our much loved specialties talks with guests covering topics from how to become a neurosurgeon all the way to an experienced view of the emerging field of neuropsychiatry. We also launched the first year of ?Headstart,?our all encompassing, hands-on workshop on concussion led by world-leaders in traumatic brain injury and sports medicine. These events and so much more were all thanks to our dedicated Committee and members so thank you all!!!

Whether you love neurosciences and want to start your career journey, or you struggle with them and need an extra bit of revision help, we hope that we have been the go-to society for everything neuro This is our main ethos as a society that we will continue to strive for. Remember to follow us on all of our social medias (Facebook: UoB NeuroSoc, insta: @bhamneurosoc) to keep up to date with everything we?re up to! NeuroSoc Love xx

NURSESOC

This year at NurseSoc has been one of our busiest yet, with some really successful events that we?re very proud of. We kicked off the year with our usual freshers events, including socials and introductory talks to Birmingham and the nursing school. Since then, we?ve had a range of social events, collaborations with other societies, multiple career talks, charity fundraisers and even our first ever nursing ball! Our valentine's quiz was definitely a highlight, with over 80 attendees both nursing and non-nursing, where we managed to raise lots of money for the British Heart Foundation. Naturally our favourite event was our nursing ball, which was enjoyed by all cohorts and also included a fundraiser for a charity very close to NurseSoc?s heart, EMCCF. Aside from socials, we?ve supported students whilst on placement, put on some revision events for all cohorts and did our annual food bank collection over the winter It?s been a fun year and we can? t wait to expand again next year!

OncSoc has had one of its most successful academic years so far, starting with a fun Meet and Greet held for students of all years to socialise and gain insight into the life as a medical student. The society held several collaborations with other societies consistently throughout the year, broadening its audience and providing several educational activities that were simultaneously enjoyable. This included a series of events with the Dermatological Society; a student-led lecture on malignant skin lesions followed by a talk delivered by a dermatology registrar regarding the MDT approach to skin cancers and insight into the training pathway. We also liaised with the Haematological Society to bring about a festive Christmas Quiz filled with merry and fun prizes to win. Furthermore, we worked with the Palliative Care Society to organise a clinical communication practice OSCE event which involved professional facilitators and actors who guided students with different difficult scenarios in preparation for the exams. To specifically increase medical student exposure to research in oncology, OncSoc posted weekly blurbs of the latest advancements and organised a research talk by a clinical oncologist. Lastly, we held a successful bake sale to fundraise for the charity Help Harry Help Others.

PALLIATIVE CARE SOCIETY

Birmingham Palliative Care Society is a student-lead society focussing on educating healthcare students about end of life care, a specialty which all of us will encounter. Last year we hosted events providing a general overview of palliative care to preclinical students, as this specialty is not covered until the fourth year of the undergraduate medicine syllabus. We also hosted a more in depth teaching series open to all healthcare students focussing on topics such as breaking bad news, managing the uncertainty of prognoses, and discussing advanced care decisions. We frequently host collaborations with other societies such as our annual Clinical Communication Practice session with OncSoc, where students are given a chance to practice palliative care scenarios with professional actors. We also frequently fundraise for local hospice charities such as Birmingham St Mary?s Hospice. Most importantly,Birmingham Palliative Care Society provides a safe space for students to discuss and learn about this, in many ways, overlooked and stigmatised specialty, to boost their confidence in discussing death with patients. For information about our future events, follow us on Instagram @uobpalliativecare and join our society for free on the Guild website!

PERFORMING ARTS SOCIETY (ARTE)

ARTE is MedSoc?s Performing Arts Society that transforms the ATH lecture hall into a magical place for hosting our acclaimed musicals and plays. Our performances in the past have included Legally Blonde, Chicago, Black Coffee, A Brief History of Women and this year we put on a production of Sister Act! All performance profits are donated to charities voted by our members too.

Both shows welcome new members into the society- freshers and older years alike- who quickly blond through our rehearsals and group socials. ARTE is a great society to meet new people and have lots of fun- where else are you allowed to sing at the top of your lungs in the medical school? We hold auditions for freshers at the end of September to be part of the musical and auditions for the play happen closer to the second term. We love a good social and have lots of fun each year! Please feel free to ask follow us on Instagram @ubms arte and to ask any questions and look out for us at the Freshers?Fair!

PHARMSOC

UOB PharmSoc has had an incredible year filled with remarkable achievements. From organising the pharm parent coordinator event to the highly successful dessert night, charity bake sale, and international night, our society has showcased its dedication to fostering a vibrant and inclusive community. Our commitment to academic excellence was evident through the provision of comprehensive revision sessions, aiding aspiring pharmacists in their preparations. Furthermore, our active participation in the BPSA Annual Conference allowed members to network, learn, and contribute to the advancement of pharmacy on a national scale. In addition, the society continued to engage with a wider audience through their informative content creation and engaging vlogs, providing valuable resources for the GphC registration exam. To stay connected and receive updates, make sure to follow us on Instagram (@uob pharmsoc) and TikTok (uobpharmsoc). Building on our success, we are excitedly preparing for the highly anticipated annual pharmacy ball, promising an unforgettable evening for all attendees. Join us in celebrating the achievements of the Pharmacy Society and be part of the excitement at our upcoming events!

PHOENIX PROJECT

This year has been a great year for the Phoenix Project Birmingham in our first official year as a guild society! As a new society aimed at supporting displaced healthcare professionals with their integration into the NHS, we are happy to have begun developing our campus presence. This year, we have supported several displaced healthcare professionals in their journeys into the NHS, and continue to aid participants in their occupational English language exams. We have also been incredibly successful in recruiting participants, more than our dedicated teachers can even handle, and have liaised with groups at other universities to ensure everyone is able to get the support they need This represents a massive opportunity for growth in the society which we hope to build upon next year! We are looking forward to a big freshers fair and to continue to expand, and ultimately to further support displaced individuals.

We are PsychSoc, a group of students passionate about psychiatry and mental health! Our aim as a society is to host talks and events to get our peers more interested in this fascinating field of medicine, and to reduce the stigma associated with psychiatric illness. Our talks have been popular with all students, whether they are budding psychiatrists, passionate about mental health, or just curious! Previous talks have covered topics such as forensics, race, lived experience, attachment and more!

We run a buddy scheme to allow students to get in contact with practicing psychiatrists for support and advice, and we also run mock psychiatry OSCEs where we recruit doctors who kindly volunteer as examiners. This is our most popular event, with many participants improving their OSCE skills as well as getting plenty of free pizza!

We are a friendly society open to new ideas from anybody who wishes to get involved and we are excited to organise more interesting events over the next academic year. Find us on facebook at Birmingham PsychSoc or Instagram at psychsocbham

RESPSOC

We are RespSoc, a student-led society passionate about all things related to respiratory medicine!

Having only been formed last year, we certainly made a splash with our inaugural 3rd year mock OSCE revision session. We organised a 6-station respiratory-related OSCE circuit delivered by a host of 4th year volunteers to help the 3rd years get a feel for what it?s really like. And this year we are only going to expand? Delivered over several days to maximise the numbers we can host, with more stations and more volunteers, we are hoping to make this year?s OSCE revision session the biggest thing in your calendar!

But that?s not all, expect to see revision sessions, lectures from respiratory consultants at the forefront of their field, charity events raising money for those with debilitating respiratory conditions, and much MORE! Finally, our committee is made up of a group of 3rd and 4th years with a real passion for teaching who would love to help student progress academically in any way that we can

So keep your eyes peeled for what RespSoc has to offer this year

In 2023, the Surgical Society (SurgSoc) at the University of Birmingham achieved remarkable milestones, solidifying its reputation as a leading student organisation in the field of surgery. The society's dedication and hard work culminated in the successful hosting of the Birmingham Annual Surgical Expo 2023 (BASE 2023). This conference attracted esteemed professionals, researchers, and students from across the country, fostering an environment of knowledge exchange and networking, in addition to some very exciting and hands-on workshops!

SurgSoc further demonstrated its commitment to providing practical learning opportunities by organising several surgical skills workshops throughout the year. These workshops offered hands-on training to aspiring surgeons, allowing them to hone their skills and gain invaluable experience Additionally,the society introduced the captivating "So You Want to Be a Surgeon?" Lecture Series, featuring renowned surgeons who shared their expertise and inspiring stories, encouraging students to pursue a career in surgery.

SurgSoc's year-round activities, including the BASE conference, skills workshops, and lecture series, have enriched the educational experience of its members and facilitated their professional growth. By fostering a passion for surgery and promoting excellence, SurgSoc continues to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of aspiring surgeons at the University of Birmingham.

Tutti is MedSoc?s music society that comprises of 6 ensembles- Big Band, Orchestra, Tutti Flutti, Medchoir, Belcanto and Vocal Chords. Every year we put on the Tutti Christmas Concert, the Tutti Easter Concert, the Big Band Easter gig and Christmas carols at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. We love welcoming MedSoc freshers and any other MedSoc members to our society and can? t wait for the year ahead!

You can find out more about us at @medsoctutti on Instagram and at the Freshers?Fair. Each ensemble?s president will be available to answer any questions, as will the rest of committee.

Please feel free to get in touch with any questions and see you soon.

CHARITIES

BIRMINGHAM WIDENING ACCESS TO MEDICAL SCIENCES (BWAMS)

Birmingham Widening Access to Medical Sciences (BWAMS) works to inspire students, particularly those from widening participation backgrounds, to pursue healthcare careers. Our hope is to make the NHS representative of the people it serves, and so far, we have reached thousands of students!

In the past year, we have organised a number of conferences and events for primary school through to sixth form and University,all to support students from underrepresented backgrounds. We had a mixture of virtual and in-person events, such as five national Dr.eam conferences, primary and secondary school outreach, a Research Rodeo, and a Mock MMI event for potential Medicine and Dentistry applicants We also participated in the National Medical Schools?Widening Participation Conference where we presented our work based on our Dr.eam Junior and Research Rodeo events, which were conferences aimed at Year 10-11 and university students, respectively. We are honoured to do the work we do and the heartwarming feedback we receive continues to fuel our work further. We welcome students from every healthcare course to make a difference and we can? t wait to work with you!

Instagram: @BWAMSBirmingham

Hello! Docs Not Cops are a group of students passionate about refugee and migrant?s access to healthcare in the NHS. We believe healthcare access is a human right, not a privilege and that we as healthcare professionals should not have to act as border control. Over the past year we've expanded and reached further than ever before! We held our second annual conference, where we welcomed speakers such as Aliya Yule and James Skinner, who are key leaders of the Patients not Passports campaign, Dr Murhaf Assaf, a general surgeon with real-world experience of operating in war-torn areas of Syria, and Dr David Nicholl, a consultant neurologist and activist who contribued to a successful campaign to end force feeding torture of Guantanamo bay inmates. We've also held several events, including a showing of the film "Flee", a refresher social with a talk from Patients not Passports, and a talk on the Safe Surgeries initiative by Doctors of the World. We were also able to set up a stall and talk about our work at the Late Night Exchange for World Refugee Day at the University of Birmingham. We're really excited for the coming year and we're hoping you'll want to join us!

GLOBAL BRIGADES

Global Brigades is the largest student-led movement for global health, working across the world with disadvantaged, under-resourced communities to reduce healthcare inequalities! The aim of GB is to support partnered communities through a holistic model which involves providing healthcare, sanitation projects, developing businesses, providing legal advice, and supporting community-owned banks! Our medical chapter works year-round to raise awareness, recruit volunteers, and fundraise towards our brigade in the Summer. Following the success of our brigade to Honduras in August 2022, this year, we have been able to recruit more volunteers and prepare and fundraise for another brigade! This Summer, we will be sending a group of volunteers to Panama to support a partnered community in the set-up of a medical clinic, providing health care, and developing public health systems. Throughout the year, we have organised many recruitment and fundraising events, including a ?Take Me Out? , world cup raffle, sponsored cycle and many bake sales, raising over £1000 towards our brigade! This fundraising will be invaluable in providing the communities with medical aid and supplies and is thanks to our amazing committee and volunteers working hard throughout the year as well as the support of UoB students!

With a new committee elected, we are looking forward to our upcoming brigade and are very excited about the next academic year and continuing to work towards reducing global health inequalities!

Social Media@uobglobalbrigades

STREET DOCTORS

StreetDoctors is a Nationwide charity formed of healthcare students united by the vision of eradicating youth violence. We aim to empower young people with the skills and knowledge to save lives and increase their understanding of the medical and psychological consequences of violence. Our Birmingham team was established in 2014 and is one of the largest in the country, made up of 33 volunteers! We organise training sessions across the West Midlands such as what to do if someone is bleeding or if they are knocked out. This year we have fully returned to face to face sessions and we go into schools, youth centres and prisons to teach We also established the Babacar Diagne memorial fund, in memory of 15 year old Babacar who was tragically murdered in Coventry in 2020. This has since raised in excess of £3,500 and the money has been ringfenced to fund sessions with grassroots organisations around Birmingham and Coventry.

Follow us on Instagram @streetdoctorsbirmingham for updates.

TEDDY BEAR HOSPITAL

Teddy Bear Hospital is a very welcoming society that functions as a voluntary organisation. Volunteers, led by our preclinical reps, go and deliver fun and engaging sessions to young children, teaching them about all facets of health! Sessions run on a Wednesday afternoon when there are no lectures scheduled and there is no expectation on the amount of sessions attended - volunteers can attend as many or as few sessions as they like!

This year we?ve visited a wide range of venues, from primary schools to sessions at ThinkTank and even some sessions at the Birmingham Children?s Hospital! Our stations include the essential healthy eating, dental hygiene, doctor?s toolkit and we introduced a new station this year: The mental health station. In total this year we have delivered a total of 20 sessions to an approximate total of 450 children and always receive the most amazing feedback.

We ran termly interactive and engaging training sessions where volunteers got to have a go using the equipment in each station and get a feel for what each station entails. Watch this space as we?ve got some great plans for fundraising, socials, conferences and some new and improved stations!

EVENTS

MEDBALL

MedBall is (arguably) the biggest event in the MedSoc Calendar! It is a once a year, student-ran event where you can forget your studies and dance the night away in a fabulous frock with all of your friends (and lecturers). This year MedBall was hosted at Supreme Banqueting Suite and it was a massive success with 800 students across all courses attending. The theme was ?Secret Garden?which included magical décor, a stunning string quartet, and lots of opportunities for photos with friends in our photobooth or 360 photo booth. The night included a delicious 3 course Indian meal , bottles of alcoholic and non alcoholic wines/juices, an amazing live band performing all the classic party songs with photographers around to capture your best angles. We even threw in a live magician who kept you entertained at dinner!

This year there is a fresh, new committee ready to bring you a magical Medball 2024. Make sure you keep an eye out on socials for best event of the year.

ENTS

Another year of studying done, but more importantly, another year of brilliant Medsoc events! Miki and Namwa did a sensational job last year with their sell-out socials including: P-party,GEC mixer and classy Medsoc Xmas party! We (Katie & Lily) can? t wait to show you what we?ve got in store for the year to come!

Our first event was the end of exams Gower camping trip, which made a lovely change from the library and proved to be the perfect way to kick off the summer break! Naturally, we went to the hottest and sunniest place we could think of? the Welsh coast. And Gower did not disappoint - the days were filled with sunbathing, rounders games, parties on the beach and late night swims (here are some photos to prove it). We also had an incredible turnout for the Yr3/GEC mixer (with wayyy more people attending than the average lecture? ) - we ran a quiz at the Bristol Pear with our beloved Big Band jazzing up the evening!

We cannot wait for the rest of this year's events! We?re always open to suggestions and feedback; please follow our FB page (Katie & Lily Medsoc ENTs 2023/24) if you don? t already as you don? t want to miss out on vital information! So here?s to another year of Medsoc chaos and entertainment!

Your ENTs, KT & Lil xxx

VPS

Hey everyone! My name is Mollie and I?m your Vice President Social for this year meaning I get the exciting job of organising your freshers week events! I?m a 3rd year Biomed from Essex, I love playing sports and a chill catch up with friends and I can? t resist a good MedSoc event! Along with the task of creating the freshers booklet I?ll be organising events such as the HOP,pub quizzes as well as other super socials! I?m looking forward to creating new exciting events for you this year. I?m very excited to meet you all and to make sure that everyone has the opportunities to enjoy their freshers week!

HERE'S TO 2023-24!