Calling students and ex-uni attending people!

I know the severity of everyone's asthma differs and how it affects their studies differs also. I was just wondering what allowances were/are made for you while you were studying. My uni seems to have the worlds most confusing mitigation system in the world and 1001 silly rules. Am I alone in this???

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I'm still only a college student but have had to miss several lectures already this term due to my asthma, as well as having to see the nurse - there are no allowances made here, no rules, illness is illness and that's that! However, I have just applied to do medicine at Uni and am also interested as to what protocol, if any, Uni's, especially medical schools, have with asthma...

Emz x

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....I shall provide you with a brief overview of my uni's policy....we can self-certificate for up to 7 days of missed lectures but for any more than that we need a drs note. IN case of mitigation required for exams due to missed lectures. Unfortunately they're a nuisance when it comes to assignments b/c they set them at the beginning of term they expect us to write them on time no matter what. I am curently investigating what routes are available for chronic diseases. I will let you know when they let me know.

Em

xxxx

ps I think the rules here are uni wide and everyone has the same forms to fill out so I dont think it will affect u any different being at med school

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Hi wherrers

I'm currently a 4th year student at university and I was diagnosed with asthma just before my course began. The impact of my asthma on my studies varies greatly I can be absolutely fine for a while and then catch a cold or inf and end up struggling to make it in to uni.

I've been in contact with the disability services / student support team at my university since my first year. They have been absolutely fantastic at supporting my case for mitigating circumstances which I have needed on a number of occasions, and also with special arrangements for exams. I was encouraged to apply for disabled students allowance so that I can recieve funding for equipment like a laptop and a digital dictaphone for use in lectures if I'm feeling a bit poorly and other support such as note taking if I cannot get into uni because I am ill / have a hospital appointment.

Disabled Students Allowance covers both those with disabilities and those with long term health conditions and also mental health difficulties. It is funded through your LEA based on medical evidence from your GP and a detailed assessment through a company such as Ability Net. I really wouldn't have got through my degree without this support.

With regards to mitigating circumstances I'm not sure if the policy is the same for all universities. I've never had to self certify or provide medical evidence for missing lectures, I just send my lecturers an email to say I wont be in and they are already aware of the extent of my asthma through student services. I always provide medical evidence in the form of a letter from my GP or asthma nurse if I am unable to make an assignment deadline or have to miss an exam. I always resit any exams I have missed and if necessary I have been able to successfully defer assignments until I am well again.

Wherrers do you have someone like a personal tutor who you can discuss these problems with or perhaps your SU vice president for education and welfare? They usually have a good understanding of how the mitigating circumstances system works. I'd also contact what ever student support services are available to you at uni and ask them for some advice too!

Hope this helps

Sparkly Fairy

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I was able to sit exams in a separate room so could neb if needed to and one final exam that i left due to illness i was escorted with paper to the uni dr who listened to wheeze and filled in some medical form which meant that despite a mark of 25% i passed degree. I didn't have to tell anyone if i was missing lectures nobody seems to care if you're there or not as long as asignments get handed in on time.

Keep your personal tutor informed of everything and get medical notes when you can to cover for assignments and exams.

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I would definitely recommend contacting the disability people at your university. They can put things in place at any time during your course.

I have mentioned my asthma to them and I also talked about it in my assessment for Disabled Students Allowance so that the lecturers are aware of it. All I could think to mention was that I might have difficulty walking when I have a chest infection or virus. So I just need to let the lecturers know I can't get in, I'm also allowed taxi's if there is an emergency such as being ill (the taxi's are part of Disabled Students Allowance). Because of my other disability I have already had some things recommended including advanced notice of deadlines for coursework, a human to do scanning, reading, notetaking and a shiny new laptop complete with scanner, printer and docking station. You just need to be able to tell them how your asthma affects you and usually they are full of good suggestions.

I definitely think that my assessment this time has been loads better than the first time I was at uni. Whether that's because the support people have learnt more, or are generally better than at my previous uni, or because I am even better at getting across what I need I'm not sure. I'm due to get my completed assesment in a few weeks. I start my course in January.

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I am now in my second year of uni and despite 19 overnight (at least) hospital admissions I managed to pass my 1st year. Here you can self certify illness for up to 7 days at a time but no more than 10 days in an academic year. If you have an ongoing ilness like asthma the school ask your permission to liase with your gp. My gp is very supportive and wrote a letter to my school last year and again to update them at exam time. He also asked if I could self certify for unlimited period of time if my abscence was related to asthma, I generally included a copy of hospital discharge certificate with form. When it came to exams, I was allowed to do them in a separate room and actually did them at medical centre so I could neb when I wanted and there was someone on hand. I ended up missing 2 exams and being dragged out of 1 due to asthma and ending up in hospital, the uin werve very good. They passed me on 2 of them based on coursework and the other 1 I did in the summer as a sit as the module was 100% exam based. As for DSA I can't really comment, after being nagged about it by consultant, mum, gp etc I applied and had my assessment at beginning of November. It appears to be a ood thing as it will now be written down so the uni have to act on it rather than relying on peoples good nature, Even little things like having access to powerpoint slides used in lectures I missed will help in the catch up marathon! Hope this helps

love steph xx

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Hi all,

I think every university is different, but they should all have a Disabled Students Support Centre or something similar. Mine were pretty good in making changes - for example, getting me a pass to drive onto campus (normally only allowed for staff) to minimise walking. I was incorrectly advised that I wouldn't be entitled to Disabled Students Allowance, as I wasn't getting Disability Living Allowance at the time, which was very irritating - before I had a car, I used to have to take a taxi into campus a lot of the time, because the buses didn't go the way I needed them to, which got expensive.

In terms of missing work and exams, I missed quite a lot, as I had a lot of admissions during my course. I was given a lot of opportunity to catch up, and extra coaching when I needed it. I missed some of my exams at the end of the first year, and again in the third year, and was allowed to take them in August with the resits, but as a 'first sit' - this is important, as a lot of places only allow you to get a maximum of a passing grade in a resit, however well you do; you also often have to pay for resits, but not first sits. The only objection I did have was that there was one exam, covering three modules, which I actually had an attack during - I sat out the exam, nebbing, but was admitted to hospital later that evening. I passed one module, just, but failed the other two, and those ones, I was made to do as resits, and had to pay for them, too.

I had a personal tutor who was *very* supportive of me, which was a big help - she helped me deal with a lot of the practical stuff and also the psychological issues of going onto the wards as a medical student having had some fairly unpleasant ICU-related experiences previously. If you haven't made contact with your personal tutor, I would really recommend it.

In medicine, we had to do clinical placements, which could be anywhere in the West Midlands - the med school were quite accommodating at putting me at local hospitals, or at the same hospital as my housemate who had a car. Again, I was also given permission to park on the hospital sites, rather than walking a long distance in the morning. Most of the consultants and clinical tutors were made aware of my problems, so that they knew that if I disappeared from a ward round, it was probably because I needed a neb!

My biggest problem probably came during my Psychiatry placement - this was an eight week placement, and exposure to cigarette smoke (almost unavoidable in psychiatric hospitals) at a time (during Oct - Nov) when I was already at my worst, did for me fairly soon into the attachment. It was a very nasty attack, several days vented, and after I came out of hospital I chose not to go straight back to Psych, as I was pretty sure the whole thing would happen again. I had a few weeks at home to recover, and ultimately ended up doing my Psychiatry module at the end when I should have been on my elective - which was disappointing, not being able to go away, but it enabled me to get through the degree in the normal five years.

I managed to achieve more than I (or my doctors) thought I would, getting through my degree course and practicing as a doctor with brittle asthma. It's not easy, but there is a lot of help to be had, usually, if you ask for it.

Hope this helps, good luck to everyone going through this

Em H

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Thanks for all your help and advice! Its been really great and my GP is going to write to my department so that they can make allowances etc. Now I'm just trying to get the assigment in not too late so they dont think I'm taking advantage of the extension system!

xxx