Two international postgraduate students have died in residences in the space of one month. In the event of a medical emergency, many students do not know how to react or which procedures to follow.

 Residents are encouraged to get to know their neighbours and be aware of their whereabouts. This does not seem to come into practice in reality according to one student from Barnato Hall.

“You might be my neighbour but you’re not my friend,” he said, describing the attitude at res.

Much of this distance between senior res students might be due to a lack of postgraduate orientation. O-Week, at the beginning of the year is directed primarily at first year students and not postgrads.

Head of Student Accommodation and Residence Life, Rob Sharman, confirmed that postgrad students are never orientated. “We are not dealing with ignorant people. We don’t sit them down like undergrads,” he said.

Campus Health and Wellness have posters explaining what one should do in a medical emergency. Vuvuzela went to various residences to find out if the students had seen the poster in their houses.

Students in College House and Dalrymple House have never seen the poster.

 Carol Mwelase, a 6th year medicine student in Barnato Hall has never seen the poster either. She has also not received any other information on what to do in a medical emergency.

Signboards with emergency contact numbers were seen outside West Campus Village.

When asked what should be done in a medical emergency, many residents suggested talking to security. The Barnato house committee chairperson, Tsepo Ntlamelle, confirmed that security would be your first point of call.

Other universities like Rhodes and Cape Town have dedicated postgraduate orientation programmes and information booklets.

Wits postgraduate students, however, are expected to find information on their own. “We assist them if they ask,” added Sharman.