What is ParaSoc?
ParaSoc ARU is a society based out of Anglia Ruskin University Chelmsford and aims to benefit Student Paramedics and other students at the university with an interest in pre-hospital and emergency medicine (PHEM) and the wider medical field.
ParaSoc aims to expand and enhance the knowledge of students with a combination of educational and social events throughout the year. We try to build on topics covered throughout the standard university course, as well as introduce new topics and opportunities that are not normally available to students! to keep up to date about all of our events, make sure you follow us on our social media pages! have a read about the sort of stuff we'll be getting up to this year!
Guest speakers
We're really excited at the range of guest speakers we're hoping to have in this year! Although not all of these guest speakers are confirmed, this gives you an idea of the sort of topics that you can expect! All of our speakers are registered healthcare professionals, usually a specialist / advanced Paramedic or Doctor, and are experts in their field and have vast amount of experience in their chosen topics.
- Safe discharge and community referral to a GP
- What can A&E actually do?
- What do critical care resources bring to the scene?
- Managing mental health in the community
- Progressing to work as a Paramedic in a GP surgery
- Paediatrics and recognising sick children
- Progressing to work as an Advanced Care Practitioner
- What can HART bring to the scene?
Prehospital Discussion Forum
The PDF will be a student led forum discussing all the topics that we feel are really important but aren’t necessarily covered as part of the standard curriculum, or are topics that we feel could be expanded on outside of the time restraints of a lecture. We want to make sure that all students, regardless of study year, can participate and engage with the discussion topics. We’ve therefore made sure that we have a range of topics that everyone can benefit from in some way! We're always open to suggestion to new topics of discussion!
So how does it work? Each PDF meeting will cover 2-3 different topics. Each topic will have a few scenarios which everyone can discuss in small groups, the presenters will open the discussion to the room, looking at different opinions and ideas. There's no right or wrong answer! This is student led so we want it to be relaxed! We encourage you to google and look things up as we go along. Bring along some snacks and use the opportunity to learn something new!
The PDF is student led and we plan on keeping it relaxed and open so that everyone from all three year groups can attend and find it a valuable learning opportunity! We'll be announcing the topics and dates for each session on our socials so keep an eye on them!
Regardless of you current knowledge we encourage you to come along! Learn something new!
Fundraising
Each year the society hosts a 24 hour CPR marathon in aid of charity! The idea came from the world restart a heart day in October, aimed at teaching the public about the importance of CPR, why not make it a sponsored event and raise some money for a charitable cause as well?! This has become a long standing society tradition and over the years ParaSoc has proudly raised thousands of pounds for various charities! This year we will be choosing a new charity so keep your eyes peeled for info!
Nights out
We're all students and who doesn’t love a good night out! We'll be sure to put on some good social events throughout the year, its a good opportunity not only to let your hair down and de-stress but also to socialised with students from other year groups! ParaSoc always aims at providing our members with free entry to our social events, and we try and do some sweet talking to get free drinks as well :)
Other stuff!
This year we're hoping to facilitate more collaborative learning with some of our local partner agencies such as HEMS, HART and BASICS, this is something that will take time and significant effort, so we'll update you as we progress with the projects!
We're also hoping to put on some incidents and scenario days! More information to follow......
Merchandise!
We are pleased to announce that out members can now purchase ParaSoc merchandise! We’ll be selling hoodies, polos and t-shirts! Above is the design, it’s the same on the polos and t-shirts. You don’t have to put your name on there but it’s no additional cost to do so :)
All orders will be sent to the Student Union building on campus, as per SU policy and distributed from there.
ORDER LINK: https://www.angliastudent.com/news/article/parasoc/merchandise/
How to join?
Following the link on the Students Union ParaSoc page for the one-off yearly payment of £4.50 will give you free access to all of our social events, Guest Speakers and PDF sessions. Whilst we always aim to make events free to members, some events such as incident and scenario days may require a small fee to cover the cost
Contacting us
Facebook: ParaSoc – ARU Chelmsford
Instagram: @aru_parasoc
Contact committee members via Facebook or Instagram messenger
Committee members 2022 - 2023
President: Sam Firth
Vice President: Chenise Smith
Social Secretary: Tyler Hart
Treasurer: Sam Redman
Engagement Officer: Amber Hendley
Events Officer: up for re-election!