Student Parliament

Student Parliament (SP) is a student-run organisation which is involved with looking after you, the students, as well as the running and planning of the medical school. Members of Student Parliament are here to help you with any problems you may have throughout your time at PCMD. It is one of the main communication links between staff and students and is involved with much of the decision making. If you have a good idea for improving the course, or a problem with anything university related, be it a cancelled lecture (plenary – as they are called) or anything you think is unfair, your Student Parliament representative is a good first port of call. If they can’t help they should know who can.

Student Parliament has also produced a guide to help freshers get to grips with the huge amount of information you are receiving. This is called the Student Parliament Freshers’ Booklet and it has all the really useful information in one place, from a student’s perspective. I would have read it when I was a fresher if I’d known how useful it was!

Elections for SP reps take place in November. Until then, first years are represented by the second year reps (James Bailey and Nadia Dullaghan in Exeter and Shyamalie Satkunanandan and David Jones in Plymouth), so contact them with any questions.

Joining Student Parliament

If you think you may be interested in joining Student Parliament, elections are held in the first week of November with a week of nominations and any campaigning beforehand. There is a position on SP for two first year students from Plymouth and two from Exeter. Members gain much insight into the continual development of this relatively new medical school, and represent students in their year and locality. Student Parliament has members on many of the committees that help govern the school, such as the Education Committee, the Medical Programme Management Committee and the Equality and Diversity Committee. Student members are there to represent the student voice, and also to relay information from these committees to Student Parliament and on to the student body. If you think this is for you, get in touch with your rep, or any Student Parliament member. You can find more information on the ‘Organisations’ tab on Emily.