Welcome to Medicine

We are so pleased you have chosen to join PCSM as the place to begin your journey to becoming a doctor. We hope you have a wonderful experience.

This page provides all the information you need before you arrive at PCSM for the first year of your degree.

A welcome from Professor Morrell – Head of School

I am delighted to welcome you to your PCSM Medlearn portal, which will contain the information and links you need to register for your MBBS in 2025/26. We are excited that you will be the first cohort of PCSM students, and we are looking forward to supporting you on your journey to becoming a doctor.

Your new School is a unique combination of Imperial’s Faculty of Medicine, which is one of the largest in Europe, and the multi professional Faculty at the University of Cumbria. We also have close links with our Primary Care and NHS Trust colleagues, in both north and south Cumbria. This enables us to provide you with a wide range of clinical learning environments, serving patients living in urban, rural/remote and coastal regions.

The bespoke PCSM curriculum blends clinical skills teaching as early as the first term, with the medical scientific knowledge that will enable you to approach your studies from a clinical perspective. We focus on prevention, together with the role of research and innovation, to address the practicalities of healthcare delivery, ensuring you will be confident in your Foundation practice in 2029. We hope you will choose to stay and practise medicine in the region, using the knowledge and skills to improve the health outcomes for the people of Cumbria.

You might be wondering what life in Cumbria will be like outside the classroom. Are you new to the region? Maybe you’re wondering about accommodation and transport options and what will be best for you? Below gives you lots of information to help you settle in.

We look forward to welcoming you to PCSM on 26 August 2025

Please make sure you thoroughly read the information below – there are key tasks you must complete before you start with us at PCSM.

Medicine is an incredibly varied career, and for you it starts now. The General Medical Council (GMC) has provided helpful guidance on entering the medical profession, including an outline of the values and behaviours expected of medical students. Take some time to read and familiarise yourself with the documents by clicking on the links below:

Read the GMCs Welcome to Medicine

Read the GMC’s Outcomes for Graduates

Welcome to Cumbria

Cumbria is a wonderful place, and we hope you have a fantastic time studying and exploring. We encourage you to make the most of the natural beauty on offer and discover what makes the area so special. From the history of Hadrian’s Wall to the beauty of the Lake District and AONB Solway Coast, as well as easy access to Scotland, there is a fabulous region on your doorstep. We want Cumbria to feel like your home while you study with us.

Information on things to do in Carlisle and the region can be found here and further events like comedy and music are listed here.

We’ve created a map for you to explore the region and if you are able to visit 10 of these before the end of December 2025 you will win a lovely little Herdy Sheep

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Key tasks you must complete

If you haven’t yet activated your Imperial account, please do so using your CID, which you will find at the top of any correspondence from us.

You are required to enrol online between 28 July and 8 August. Download the My Imperial app to do so easily. Log in to My Imperial and use My Student Record to do this.You will also be asked to upload a photograph for your ID card. Please ensure the picture you upload is a passport photo. You must have done this by Friday 8 August 2025. If you have any problems in relation to your ID card, please email: id.card@imperial.ac.uk

Please note you only need to register at Imperial. Once completed, you will be automatically registered as an Associate Student at the University of Cumbria. Your ID card will have both your Imperial ID and your Cumbria Student Number printed on it.

Students who follow the above steps correctly and meet the deadline will receive their ID cards on their first day at PCSM.

We will need to know if you have any dietary requirements in advance to allow us to cater for some events planned in this week. Please complete this short form as soon as you can but no later than 8 August – we need to know if you are planning on attending an evening meal and to allow us to cater for other aspects of the week. If you do not do this, we will assume you have no dietary requirements.

It is really important that you meet the above to deadline to ensure a smooth first week.

Foundation Medical Science Primer

We will shortly be releasing a Foundation Medical Sciences Primer on the Blackboard Virtual Learning Environment. The aim of the primer is to provide curated resources around key topics in biomedical sciences that underpin teaching on the Medical Sciences 1 and 2 modules. The primer is split into units that will be released weekly, each of which should take 2-3 hours to work through.

You will receive an email with more details about the primer when the first unit becomes available. Please note that you will only be able to join the primer course once you have registered and have access to your PCSM email address and login credentials. We recommend working through the primer by Monday 22 September.

Sign up for your laptop

You will be provided with a laptop at the start of your programme. This will be handed out in the first week. Please read the laptop code of conduct and fill out the laptop agreement form and bring it with you on Tuesday 26 August to receive your laptop on time – copies will be available to sign on the day. You are welcome to bring a personal laptop, but it is expected that this laptop will be all you need for your study requirements.

PCSM Laptop Guidance and Code of Conduct – FINAL

PCSM Student Laptop Loan Agreement – FINAL

You’ll use Eduroam Wi-Fi when on campus, and at most NHS buildings. You can tether to your phone or connect to any trusted Wi-Fi when out and about.

You have an Imperial email address, which comes with a OneDrive storage area, and Microsoft Teams.

Your “Go to” webpage will be MedLearn, which is packed with information and links to all the systems you need. Once you’ve signed in to your laptop and opened MedLearn, everything else will work without needing to sign in again. You will be required to use Multi Factor Authentication via your phone periodically.

Occupational Health

You will have an Occupational Health appointment during your first weeks with us, and you will be informed of your timeslot in advance. This will involve vaccinations as well as blood tests. A questionnaire has been sent to you, and this may lead to an in person or online appointment and will determine which vaccinations / blood tests you will require. These appointments are a requirement for you to work in an NHS setting.

Please ensure you also bring a legal photo ID to your appointment (passport, driving licence or National ID). University ID cards will not be accepted and if you do not bring a legal ID you will need to reschedule the appointment.

What’s happening in your first week (26 August onwards)

During your first week on campus (which we are calling Week 0) there will be a range of sessions to familiarise you with the programme and the modules. Your attendance at the sessions is mandatory. You will get the chance to meet the PCSM team, have module introductions, lab coat fittings and lab health & safety briefings which you must attend. This will all take place on the Fusehill Street campus.

A link to your first week timetable can be found here . On Monday 25 August PCSM staff will be available at the Cathedral Café between 9.30am and 13.30pm if you have any questions and we can make some recommendations of how to spend your Bank Holiday Monday in Carlisle – we’ll also have a free coffee voucher for you.

During your first day at PCSM you will take your oath. You might be wondering “what exactly is the oath”?

Click to learn more about the Oath

An image of a sculpture of Asklepios, the Greek god of healing

The ancient Greek god of healing, Asclepius, was worshipped as early as 500 BCE. It was customary for case histories and accounts of successful cures to be inscribed on the walls of his temples—known as Asclepieia—or carved onto marble tablets displayed within their sacred precincts. Snakes, symbolizing rebirth, healing, and renewal through the shedding of their skin, were also a prominent feature of these temples. This symbolism endures today in the form of one of medicine’s most iconic emblems: a single snake entwined around a staff.

This “communitarian” spirit of shared healing however, was not universally practiced. According to Pliny the Elder, a Roman thinker writing around AD 20, no profession offered greater financial reward than medicine. He observed that many physicians accumulated significant wealth by catering to the elite, and he was sharply critical of those who placed profit above healing. Pliny condemned such practitioners as irresponsible and deceitful. His critique highlights a timeless and still-relevant tension: the conflict between financial self-interest and the ethical responsibilities at the heart of medical practice. More specifically, it underscores the enduring challenge for doctors to balance personal gain with their duty to act ethically and in the best interests of their patients.

It was precisely because of this tension—and the potential for medicine to cause harm—that the ancient Greeks, particularly the school of Hippocrates, formulated the Hippocratic Oath over 2,500 years ago. The oath was, and remains, a declaration of the ethical principles that should govern the practice of medicine. Despite the passage of time, much of its wisdom continues to resonate today.

As a medical student joining the Pears Cumbria School of Medicine, you have made a deliberate and meaningful choice. The school is dedicated to improving the health of the people of Cumbria and confronting the deeply troubling health inequalities that persist across the UK. By choosing to join PCSM, you are affirming a commitment to others—a commitment to service, equity, and compassion. It is with this commitment in mind that we invite you to join your faculty in taking a modern version of the Hippocratic oath during your first week with us.

^{Image: By original file by Michael F. Mehnert – File:Asklepios – Statue Epidauros Museum 2008-09-11.jpg, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8718607}

As well as being your first week, it is PCSM’s first week too! As this is such an important milestone, we are going to be photographing and videoing some of the sessions and activities. There will be a formal group photo at an evening meal on 28 August. You are of course under no obligation to be in the photos/videos if you don’t wish to be.

Your DBS certificate

You will have completed the DBS process as a condition of admission. Please make sure you have a physical copy of your DBS certificate with you, in case one of the placement providers would like to see it at the start of term. While Imperial is sent the outcome of your DBS application, we are not permitted to hold a copy of your certificate.

Start of term questions

Please contact the PCSM team on cumbriamedadmissions@cumbria.ac.uk with any queries you may have before you start.

Settling into Carlisle

Some useful day-to-day life information can be found here for students with links to GP surgeries you may wish to join, bus timetables as well as campus maps.

What equipment and kit will I be given

As a PCSM student you will be provided with a laptop (details above), a stethoscope, a tendon hammer, a lab coat and scrubs.

Need to prove you’re a student?

Once you have enrolled, your Statement of Registration letter will be available via My Imperial in My Documents, the following working day.

Professional Development Tutors

In your first week, you will meet your Professional Development Tutor (PDT) who will guide you through your studies and help you define and achieve your career aspirations. This mentorship is tailored to your evolving interests and goals, providing you with the support you need at each stage of your journey.

More information on Professional Development Tutors can be found here.

Occupational Health and Disabilities

At PCSM, we work closely with University of Cumbria Student Services team to best support our students who may require further assistance in completing their medical degree due to a disability. The General Medical Council’s guidance of “Welcomed and Valued” will highlight the steps institutions will take to support you. We would encourage you to reach out to our team before you join to discuss possible arrangements and requirements.

Your wellbeing

Your wellbeing is very important to us at PCSM. We offer a range of mental health and wellbeing support services which are free and accessible to all PCSM students.

Life can be complicated. Personal, emotional and psychological problems can impact on your ability to study. Talking therapy can give you time to explore what is going on in your life in a safe and confidential setting. You will be listened to, respected and not judged. With qualified practitioners, you can explore ways to help yourself, do things differently, be clearer about things and move on. Appointments run Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, on campus or via MS Teams or telephone.

The Mental Health & Wellbeing Team also provide:

Online wellbeing workshops
Wellbeing Groups
Self-referral for Talking Therapy and counselling if needed
The Live Well Learn Well Blog
The Online Wellbeing Hub
A range of events throughout the year

Further information on wellbeing support as well as information on sport and recreation can be found here.

Safety Guidance

Personal safety: Please read and follow the guidance provided on MedLearn for your health and safety on Campus

On behalf of all the team at PCSM we extend a warm welcome to you all and wish you a hugely enjoyable 4 years of study with us. Thank you for reading the above information and for completing any actions required.