He giveth and taketh away

Amusingly opposite messages about funding for 4th year today. BMA Charities sent m a letter to say that they are awarding me a grant to cover my tuition fees for 2008-09. This is the same as last year and is very nice of them and makes the finances that bit easier.

It was followed by a phone call from North Tyneside (my LEA) to say that Uni have not sent them a form to tell North Tyneside that I repeated the year, and without which North Tyneside will not allow me to have a Student Loan in Yr4 or Yr5. I emailed the Registry about it, reminding them that I asked them to send the form in September '07. Not heard anything back yet, which is annoying and must make a mental note to check on Monday.

Irony

On the day that my student body elected someone with an alcohol problem to represent us to the University, we 3rd years had a session on alcohol, addiction, treatment and also a personal story from a GP who has alcohol dependency. Of these, the GP was the most listened to, with less talking and noise from the back rows. The GP referred to their realisation that they had a problem; their attempts to abstain; their family background; the effect on their patients and colleagues and the support from other addicts within the profession.

This was actually a really good end to the session as it brought together the 'academic'' talks about epidemiology, aetiology, genetics dependence syndrome, co-morbidities, treatment and management. This PBL has also been interesting as it also looked at the responsibilities of us to our colleagues if they have issues which affect their ability to do their job. The scenario was in a GPO setting, which is harder as the line manager is not so clearly defined.

As ever the advice seems to be, call the BMA advice line, call your Defence Union, talk to the person concerned, then call your Clinical director, and/or the GMC if needed.

Anyway, I'm, sure Charles, the GUU and the LibDemSoc will be celebrating with a few glasses tonight.

Back in the big city

Well I'm back in my flat. It is funny how a week away can make even simple things look totally different. Firstly the hall was covered in post from Banks, magazines, Unions, BMA, Power companies (more on that later), Student loans and my P45 form being an OSCE model in June. I have to say that my heart skipped a beat when I saw another University of XX franked envelope!!

Then I discovered that i hadn't set the dishwasher off before leaving and thus had to do that as it was awful inside. I had however remembered to shut the fridge and freezer doors and turn the power off to other things (but not the fridge and freezer!)

My week away was a strange time - a time of contemplation, thinking, reflection and some relaxation - as much as you can have when with your parents and dragged out to various places to stop you 'moping'....ok activity is good, but sleeping would also have been nice!

We walked the coast, along rivers and went by Train to Settle, from Carlisle...it was fairly scenic... I also drafted my written statement to the Progress Committee (of which more later) and saw my sister who was down fleetingly for wedding planning. This allowed me to hitch a lift back as far as Linlithgow with her, before catching the train back home, and arriving just in time to discover that tomorrow morning is the Fresh n Lo 13mile race and it starts outside my flat - what fun! The last 2 years i have been working in East Lothian this weekend of the year and managed to miss the race!

Investment and return

In September last year, I gave the BMA £24 annual subscriptions. yesterday they sent me a letter offering me £1500 (a 6250% return).

To be fair I gave them the same amount last year and got nothing back, and I might not get anything next year! It is to pay my tuition fees etc this coming year and came from the BMA charities wing, which has a trust to provide support for Medical students.

So I guess I owe thanks to two groups of people - my two referees; and all the BMA members who contribute to the charities fund each year which allowed them to grant me this money.

My LEA have calculated me as not having to pay fees next year because (yet again) they have forgotten to factor in that this is my second degree and thus I have to pay full UK Fees.