Hi everyone,
As I mentioned earlier, I took a trip to Dublin last week to look for housing. While I was there, I visited RCSI and got some more info. First thing...vacation dates which I think have been posted before. For my own simplicity and comfort, I'll post them in the format MM/DD/YY.
Winter Break/Christmas holidays (during Module 1): 12/19/05 to 1/2/06
Semester Break (b/w Modules 1 and 2): 1/30/06 to 2/10/06
Easter Break (during Module 2): 04/10/06 to 04/21/06
I was told that last year they had a white-coat ceremony 3 weeks into the 1st Module, and that they were planning to do the same thing again this year.
Now about class size and structure. My tour guide informed me that pretty much the only time our entire class of 200 is together on a normal day is for the big lecture in the O'Flanigan Lecture Hall (seats 400 so it is known as the 1st med lecture room). We will be introduced to that particular lecture hall during orientation. Then, we're divided into groups of about 25 to attend "tutorials" later in the day with professors. This is for the purpose of keeping classes smaller and more manageable so the students get more individual attention.
Standing in the hallway by 1st med lecture hall, if you look outside across the street you'll notice a really old, dilapidated, red-brick building. RCSI has purchased the land beneath that building and the plan is to demolish it soon and begin construction on a new recreation facility (and I think it might also be a residence as well if I heard him correctly but don't quote me on that). Guide said it should take 18 months once they start. They were supposed to start in June, he says. The current gym is quite small. Not much equipment either. The cool thing is they have someone on staff there who will guide you in working-out, assessing your excercises, etc.
The anatomy room is being renovated right now. And by that I mean they were painting it off-white. It looked like it used to be yellow or something. I don't know what else they've done. It has some cool columns throughout. Very unique, at least compared to what I've seen in the US.
Apparently the school likes to throw wine parties for the students. Especially the biology club I think it is. I also got the impression that there are nice parties for the fellows, visiting physicians, conferences, etc. These parties are held in the old building depicted on most of the brochures for the school. I was also told there is a formal for the students in January.
Lunch time here in Ireland is from 1 to 2, by the way. I know that where I'm from, it is at noon. The cafeteria is small as well. I don't know how crowded it gets or not, but it sells the warm food. There is another little deli area in the basement that sells sandwiches and cold food.
That's all I can think of for now! Hope this gives people a little more of an idea of what to expect, although I'm not sure I have the clearest picture since I was only visiting a few hours.
