Your Nursing Offer Holder Visit Day

Your Offer Holder Visit Day is a super helpful way to get a feel for the university and Medical School. The day differs to the Open Day as you go into different rooms and areas of the Medical School which is nice to see where you will be learning and studying over the course of the next few years.

What does the day look like?

You start the day with a brief talk about the university. This is useful to get more insight and general information and not just focusing on nursing and the medical school. Many factors will come into making your decision for what university to pick so it is important to consider what may affect your student life, such as the campus, societies and employability.

You get introductions to the lecturers which is helpful to familiarise yourself with who you may have teaching you. As you are in smaller groups than the big swarms of people on the open day, you get to hear more from the lecturers which is crucial for picking the course.

You also get to be around people who will potentially be on the course with you, so there may be familiar faces in September when you join.

Interactive skills labs

You then get the opportunity to visit different skills stations. There was one on simulations which is super cool to see the advanced technology you will have access to. This involved clinical decision making and assessing a patient to see their deterioration and how to intervene to help. You get an exam on a physical examination of a ‘patient’ each year, called an OSCE, so it was helpful to see what you will be dealing with and what you may come across on your placements.

There was another section for practicing CPR which is crucial for preparing you for the basic life support training you do yearly on the course. It involves a game style activity whilst also practicing a lifesaving procedure, which is fun and useful.

Another station involved key airway equipment which is useful to prepare for the safety checks you conduct on placement. It's highly beneficial to see what equipment you may come across in the future and gain a better understanding of ABC – airway, breathing and circulation.

Time to ask questions

There are Q&A sessions which are vital to get involved in as there are student ambassadors (like me!) from all fields of practice as well as the lecturers. It is interesting to see what other people may ask as you may not have thought of that question before, yet it may still be relevant for you. This is another crucial part of your day to make sure really do get all your questions answered. 

Explore campus and Birmingham

Either before or after your time in the Medical School, you could have a wander around the campus. The campus feels very safe and has a community, welcoming vibe, which is what I loved and ultimately supported my choice for picking Birmingham. It could also be a good idea to look at the different accommodations. Despite some of them not being open to look inside, it's nice to see where you will be walking to and from each day. The Vale has a lovely open green space which is very sociable in summer, however Pritchatts is a closer walk to the medical school.

Overall, if you are still conflicted on where to choose for university, an Offer Holder Visit Day is the prefect opportunity to consolidate your choices. The day is filled with useful information and an insight to what your life at university could be like.