For some people, student life is nothing more than lectures, small working groups and textbooks. Students who take a closer look will notice, however, that there’s much more to your years at university than a certificate! Panacea offers you the chance to relax and make social contacts. In addition, our association offers you the chance to develop your personal interests and to orientate yourself outside in your own field...

M.F.V. Panacea

The Medical Faculty Association Panacea was founded in 1987 and represents the interests of medical students in Groningen. Everyone following a medical degree in Groningen can become a member of M.F.V. Panacea. The association, named after the Greek goddess of healing, is currently housed in the cellar of the Faculty building.

Study association

As the section above makes clear, Panacea is a Faculty or Study Association. On the one hand it represents the interests of students, among other things by evaluating the teaching and maintaining contacts with the Faculty and the lecturers, and on the other it tries to add something extra to your time at university by organizing all kinds of activities.
Panacea is thus not a student association. This means that you can become a member of Panacea as well as of a student association like Vindicat or Albertus.

Activities

Panacea organizes a great number of varied activities. The annual introduction for all first-year students, organized by the Panacea Introduction Committee (PanIC) is most probably the first activity you will be involved in, but certainly not the last!

In addition to the introduction, Panacea organizes a great many get-togethers and parties (including the October Revolution party), a gala ball and many other activities. These activities fall not only under the headings of sports and pastimes (think of the sports night, the Gotcha games and joining in the Batavieren race), but can also be cultural (for example a musical and a play). If you like travelling, then there’s the trip abroad, the skiing trip or the sailing weekend to look forward to. If you are interested in good deeds, there’s always the benefit party and other benefit activities. Finally, Panacea also organizes many activities in the field of education; these give you the chance to go more deeply into the subject of medicine alongside your studies. For example, you can follow a First-Aid course, learn all about alternative medicine, decide on your career at the Medical Career Day and learn all about a specific medical subject at the symposium.

The benefits of membership

Membership of Panacea offers lots of benefits:

• Discounts on textbooks and instruments, for example stethoscopes and reflex hammers
  
• Reduced or free admission to all activities organized by Panacea
  
• Access to all of Panacea’s facilities, including computers, printers, photocopiers, etc.
  
• The chance to be active in a committee, working group or cohort platform together with fellow students
  
• Social contacts, great experiences and lots of fun

How do you join Panacea?

When you register to study medicine in Groningen you will be sent information about Panacea automatically. This explains exactly how you can become a member of M.F.V. Panacea and the benefits of membership.
You pay a once-off membership fee of €60,- to become a member of Panacea. Membership lasts your entire student career, which means you actually pay about € 10,- a year.

Because membership of Panacea entitles you to discounts for textbooks, you can already more than cover your membership fee in the discounts you receive in your first year.

Become active in Panacea

Once you’ve joined Panacea, you can choose to attend an occasional enjoyable activity, take advantage of the book discount and leave it at that. But what could be more fun than playing an active part and organizing all sorts of things yourself?

Panacea has 30 committees and working groups, as well as a number of curriculum-related platforms. This means that there are a lot of different ways to get involved. Are you interested in the teaching, would you like to express your opinion on it and even work on curriculum improvement? Join the International Bacherlor Representation. This consists entirely of international students. Apart from evaluating the teaching, you also organize activities for your year. Think of designing a year sweater and organizing something fun!
Committees, working groups or cohort platforms usually post job vacancies in September and sometimes in January when they need new members. They promote themselves via posters and notices on the website. You can then respond and play an active role in Panacea!

How is Panacea organized?

Just like every association, M.F.V. Panacea is kept running by a Board. This consists of seven positions, filled in 2009 by six people.
First, there is the managing committee, consisting of the positions of Chair, Secretary and Treasurer. They take care of the day-to-day affairs and the coordination of the association. All other matters are taken care of by one of the four commissioners on the Board. There are two Internal Commissioners who organize all the internal matters and coordinate the various committees and working groups. Then there is an External Commissioner who maintains all the external contacts (including contacts with sponsors) and an Education Commissioner who keeps an eye on matters related to teaching. (For more information see Board)

The Board coordinates and controls the committees, working groups and curriculum-related platforms, and in its turn is monitored by the Supervisory and Advisory Board and by an Audit Committee. In addition, the Board is accountable to the General Assembly. These are held at least two times a year and are open to all members of M.F.V. Panacea. During these meetings the Board members present a summary of their activities, the members are kept informed of developments within the association and they have the chance to express their opinion.

Laatste update door Lisanne op vrijdag 27 augustus 2010 om 21:16