Drinking...

**egildeh** · 09-07-2009, 07:37 PM

Originally Posted by Xenitic

To speak the truth, Medsoc is about drinking, a lot of the events listed here were all in the last few weeks of the first year, the only real nonalcohol related medsoc event was paintballing as far as i can remember.

Dear Hannah - I am Edward, the current MedSoc President.

Apologies for not replying sooner, I haven't checked these boards for a long time. I am REALLY sorry that the website gave you the impression that we are only about drinking. I will go back through it and make appropriate changes if need be but I will direct your attention to the key messages in the About Us Section (About Us | Exeter MedSoc - I wrote this at the start of term, not in response to this post :-p), and even the past events that we have organised. Just looking, Socials tend to encompass the night time drinking activities which we will expand to include non-drinking, while activities, charity and educational events are the non-drinking daytime and evening events. Its all there ;-)

Xenetic made the above comment and it is true, in my first two terms, almost ALL the events were alcohol based nights out apart from paintballing and if you wanted anything else, it was organised by sports teams etc.

Well here is the good news... The current MedSoc took over after Easter, in the final term when Xenetic started to notice the difference almost immediately. I have tried to portray this idea that drinking is not the be all and end all of an event and my committee are behind this 100%. Since taking over, we have organised probably more non-drinking events than drinking events which is almost unheard of. So Xenetic, we have said we would change it and we did. I said so in my speech, i've said so in my article for the Peninsula Undergraduate Newsletter due out next month and I have also stated it on the website. And trust me Hannah, we're not gonna stop now!

I will say one thing though. In my freshers week, every single event was drinking and clubbing based which for those who enjoy it, is great. But that is not at all what I want it to be about. Now that we are in charge, we're adding a new spin. Yes, we will have the drinking events because Freshers week is about breaking out and being wild, but we'll have a whole host of non-drinking, fun events for everyone to be a part of. We are still in the process of planning but trust me there will be something for everyone.

I am really sorry you got the impression you did from the website as this whole "having to drink to have fun" thing was something I actively am trying to change in MedSoc. That AND a whole lot of other things.

All I will say now is don't worry about it, I can't even begin to tell you how great the new MedSoc is and already has been and we all share your views. I will be making a whole lot of new content available on the site over the next month or so and you'll begin to get an idea of what i'm rambling on about!

Hope you're getting excited!! See you in a few months!!

Ed - x

**hannah668** · 11-07-2009, 12:50 AM

Hi Edward, Thanks for your message and don't worry about not replying sooner

I was so glad to hear that you have changed a lot since becoming president and will also make appropriate changes to the website. Of course, I'm not saying for a moment that those who want to club and drink etc. should be stopped but I just think that there should be something else for those who don't want to drink

It is really good to see that changes will be made to allow this though- thanks such a lot

See you soon then! Hannah

**Bakkur** · 14-07-2009, 04:15 PM

Wow, this entire thread sprang up when I wasn't looking. I've just finished my first year at Peninsula, and yes as a non-drinker who doesn't like clubbing I basically skipped Freshers Week entirely. I lived offcampus as well, so I didn't really get to know people until the second term.
It's good to know that the emphasis is shifting - looking through last year's Freshers Week booklet was rather dispiriting as there wasn't a single activity that didn't have alcohol as its primary purpose.
Re Marrow and such - very worth getting into, I am on the committee this year, we're going to have much more of an active presence this year so we want all the help we can get! Last year we did one donation session; this year we are planning six at least. This is no reflection on last year's committee - they were mostly fourth years, so they just didn't have time for Marrow as well. It's definitely worth doing- you get to do useful practical stuff and it's fun. I got to take blood for the first time!
Hannah, we should make a Tea Drinking Society or something

**hannah668** · 14-07-2009, 10:09 PM

Originally Posted by Bakkur

Hannah, we should make a Tea Drinking Society or something

Hahahaha- that makes us sound ancient (or eighty at least)! Next, someone will suggest we make a "Knitting and Cross Stitch" society as well hehehehehe!!!! But yeah, we should definitely make some groups for people who don't think you need to be drunk to have a good time...

**Xenitic** · 15-07-2009, 12:56 AM

Ok Ed, well we see about this in a few weeks.
I've got nothing against Drinking Events etc. but I think they get quite often organized themselves, and I don't really need 2 Medsocletsgetwasted events every week just to go out.

**egildeh** · 17-07-2009, 09:13 PM

Xenetic, can I ask who you are in the real world? lol

Also, I think you misunderstand MedSocs role. It isn't to dictate or organise every single event in the school calendar. It is to provide the diverse support and social network that any school needs and if we can, tailor it to specific Medical needs but certainly, specific to PCMD.

If you are referring to Tuesday night mosaic and other nights out during the week, I will clarify. Tuesday night mosaic are not run by MedSoc. We are lucky enough to have been involved early on in the set up of the night and such, receive revenue from tickets etc. However, this is a bonus to MedSoc rather than organised nights out. Also, birthday parties organised around a drinking theme are almost every week because people want an easy organised option to celebrate with lots of people.

These events would happen without the existance of MedSoc. They do happen because a large majority of students enjoy them for various reasons. So you will not see a reduction in the number of these nights or Mosaic tuesday outings as these are totally separate and up to the student body. So in fact you haven't been receiving 2 medsocletsgetwasted events at all, they have been your own friends choosing to go out each week.

This is an easy mistake to make because MedSoc members are pretty much Medical Students and as medics tend to have most of their friends as medics, then everything feels like a medics/medsoc event. We'll try to make a clearer distinction next year!

What you will see though is a more diverse, dynamic and interesting range of events for drinkers and for non-drinkers throughout the year.

Hope this clarifies a few things for you :-)

Ed

**Yixian** · 19-07-2009, 01:17 PM

Off topic but I just noticed the page on the Society of Tropical Medicine on the medsoc page, thanks for that Ed!

**chris5656** · 20-07-2009, 04:08 PM

Originally Posted by egildeh

Xenetic, can I ask who you are in the real world? lol

I thought everyone knew this one!

Xenetic is the only person at PMS who is german, welsh and polish. He also says the word 'looouke' in most sentences.

**Xenitic** · 20-07-2009, 05:11 PM

lol...

Thats not how it was ment to sound ed, It was ment more like that I think MedSoc should organize more events which are not just centred around getting pissed somewhere in town.
I think the Term3 events + paintball were a good start.

**Sephie** · 20-07-2009, 08:28 PM

I think Ed gets that.

To be honest you would be hard pushed to find anyone on the committe who doesn't get that. The thread is pretty much us saying we're gonna put on a lot more non drinking events.
So to pretty much sum it up...

"We want to do more non-drinking events"