Oxford University’s MedSoc has been forced to relocate its annual dissection (STD) drinks event for 2nd and 3rd years after freshers enjoyed their dissection drinks at Merton’s JCR ‘a bit too much’ last week.
According to one third year medical student: “the floors of Merton were swimming with vomit”.
This week’s event will now be held at Lincoln College’s science centre and students will be forced to leave the premises by 9.30pm. MedSoc members are instructed to “get down at 7 to ensure you can get enough free cocktails before fuzzy’s!”. The event is expected to attract at least a hundred medics.
Photographs on MedSoc’s facebook group show a selection of gruesome looking cocktails with names such as “Tummy Trouble” and “Haemorrhaging Housewife”. According to one student, drinks at past events have included “bile” and “mucus” cocktails.
However, an entz rep for MedSoc was quick to point out that:
“MedSoc has not been completely banned from Merton, only for our second dissection drinks event which is happening tonight.”
She went on to explain: “All that happened was that there were a couple of noise complaints. The event went well, there was no raucous behaviour or further problems. Everyone had left Merton by 10pm in order to reach Lava Ignite.
We are happy with the venue we have secured for tonight and are sure it will be a successful evening.”
However, Merton Head of Discipline Travers MacLeod said: “Issues reported from last night included guests dispersing out into the Fellow’s Garden with drinks until late in the evening, a series of noise complaints, guests propping open the connecting door to the Lodge, and certain individuals being disrespectful to the porter on duty”.
He also highlighted that “there were also complaints following last year’s event”.
Nevertheless, MacLeod’s account was disputed by one medic: “When I was there there was no sign of any of this”. She continued: “I don’t think the propping open of the door was us either, there were several other societies meeting in other rooms around college at the same time. It’s a shame as all the medics I know are really nice people.”
The dissection drinks event last week, which offered free cocktails all night followed by a medic club night, advertised itself as: “the perfect opportunity to meet all the other fresher medics outside of lectures, and with a cocktail in hand! Better yet, new MedSoc members get in FREE!”
Students from other departments expressed surprise at the MedSoc’s raucous behaviour. One second year student from St Edmund Hall said, “I knew that medics had a reputation for drinking, but this is really a bit grim. To be honest its also quite frightening that these are our future doctors”.
However, another student disagreed: “I think it’s fair enough, they’re human like the rest of us, why shouldn’t they have a good time. I wish I’d gone, if only for the satisfaction of keeping Merton up till ten.”
Merton College were unavailable for comment.