New students guide:

OLTO New students guide 2021 (download pdf)

About the guild

Oulun lääketieteen tekniikan opiskelijat (students of medical technology in Oulu) ry aka OLTO is a guild established in 1993, which works to unite students of medical technology in University of Oulu and all the students interested in the field. OLTO’s goal is to keep up good contacts to companies, experts and other universities and other guilds in the same field in other guilds, aka sister guilds.

There’s about 300 members in the guild and they represent an exceptionally broad spectrum of students and graduates from faculties of Medicine, Natural Sciences, Technology, and Information Technology and Electrical Engineering. What they all have in common is the interest to use their knowledge in medical technology applications and to immerse into medical technology already during their studies.

OLTO keeps in contact with companies, guilds and experts by attending events (e.g. Day of Medical Physics and Technology) and seminars. OLTO arranges company visits and “working life evenings”, to bring the medical technology companies closer to the students. Guild’s caucus names a teacher from University of Oulu to be an Oltermanni for the guild for a year at a time, who has shown active development and support of medical technology. The job of Oltermanni is to support the guild’s actions and be a link between the guild and staff of the university.

The activity of OLTO has developed greatly in the past few years. We meet students of medical technology from different faculties at the guild room but also in sauna and movie nights and at other events. Besides those OLTO has sitsit (sittning) and various other events in collaboration with other guilds. The biggest and finest event is anniversary ball which is arranged every fifth year.

OLTO is the main guild for students of wellness and medical technology and biomedical engineering. All interested students can join no matter if they are a member of another guild. Membership is free. We inform members of events and other important issues with emails and on social media.

Guildroom at Linnanmaa campus

OLTO’s guildroom (HK208) is located at the end of Chemistry corridor on second floor. You can usually access it easily by walking till the end of Chemistry corridor and taking a right. There’s a door on the right which leads to a staircase, up the stairs and then you’re there! There are signs to help to guide the way. The guildroom has been closed lately due to the corona situation, but we hope to open it after summer.

The guildroom is a part of a guildroom complex, and Atlas, Histoni, Valenssi, ESN and Niso live there as well. We have a common kitchen, restrooms, a multipurpose room and a meeting room. You can use the rooms for studying, playing or just hanging around. There’s a lot of sofas for lounging in the multipurpose room and a video projector which can be used in guild events like movie nights. In the meeting room there are tables, chairs and computers for intense studying and a Darts board. In the kitchen there is a fridge, microwave oven and OLTO’s own coffee maker. Booking lists for the rooms can be found from the rooms’ doors. The guild boards can book the rooms for guild’s own use, for example for a meeting or a game night. It’s good to check there is no booking for another guild when you are using the room.

OLTO’s own room is located on the corridor of the guildroom complex (you can’t be fooled by the big OLTO sign). There’s a big sofa, a coat rack for clothes, shelves for mugs and other things and two tables and chairs. There’s also OLTO’s own microwave oven. OLTO also has a computer for its members and some old exam papers in a physical format and other helpful papers. Official exam archive is on the website https://www.olto.fi/en/exam-archive/. The info board has the newest guild meeting calls and you can leave feedback for the board into the feedback post box. And what’s more important, you can most likely find nice company from there!

For more information, contact the guild room representative.

OLTO’s own events

School year starting party preparty: This year, Wednesday 10th of September is the starting party of the school year, and OLTO will have its own preparty to start things up. We’ll let you know more about it right when school starts! This is the first chance for new students to meet older guild people.

OLTO-info: Info event for the new students of Biomedical Engineering and everyone who is interested in medical technology. The guild, the board, the services the guild offers and other activities will be covered. What’s more, we go through the upcoming events. Older guild members are also welcome. A speaker from TEK also tells about their services.

Alumni event: In the alumni event the students and alumni, aka graduated students, meet. We will inform about this later.

Fall excursion: OLTO has a fall excursion to RekomBIOnation event (a gathering to OLTO and other Bioengineering guilds). This year RekomBIOnation is 19.-21.11., so mark that to your calendars as well, it’s going to be epic!

OLTO’s bar parties: OLTO usually organizes two bar parties a year, one in the spring, one in the fall if the corona situation allows it.

Other preparties: OLTO has preparties to some of the biggest parties of the year, like Laskiainen (Shrovetide party, in February-March).

Sitsit: OLTO tries to arrange at least two sitsit (sittning) parties a year.

Sport days: Sportful events where we can for example snow football or go to Megazone! If you come up with something new, we will listen to new ideas!

“Board grabbing”: In fall we have an event where current board members tell about their titles to new potential student who are interested in the guild activities.

Christmas party: Before Christmas we have our traditional Christmas party. All guild members get to be elves, go to sauna and have fun together! Christmas delicacies are served.

Caucus: Whole guild’s meeting, where new board and officials are decided for the next year, as well as action plan, budget plan and guild’s Oltermanni. Caucus will be 1.11.-15.12.

The annual meeting: Whole guild’s meeting, where we go over last year’s action report, financial statements and if last year’s board will be discharged. The annual meeting will be 1.2.-31.3.

LFT day: Day of Medical Physics and Technology is a seminar in February, each year held somewhere around Finland. OLTO usually takes part in the seminar and it has been a blast.

Company visits: Visits to companies of the field. Company tells about their products/services and probably gives the students a tour in their offices.

“Working life evening”: Event where bunch of companies from the field are invited to tell about their activities. Usually there’s time for general discussion alongside coffee.

Sauna nights: Relaxed gatherings where we go to sauna together. Usually with over activities such as board games or drinking games.

Movie nights: We gather to watch a movie we voted and OLTO usually provides some snacks.

Board game nights: We play different board games and hang out. We have a bunch of different games and you can bring your own games as well.

Pimp my overalls: We gather to sew our overall patches before big events like Laskiainen (Shrovetide party) or Wappu (end of the year party week).

Wappu BBQ: OLTO member gather to BBQ while the freshman technology students swim in the ditch.

WE USUALLY CREATE FACEBOOK EVENTS FOR EVENTS AND INFORM ABOUT THEM ON THE E-MAIL LIST OR SOCIAL MEDIA.

Other important events

Vulcanalia (10.9.): OYY’s (student union’s) start-of-the-year party for all the students of the university of Oulu and the staff. During the day there’s a guild fair and in the evening there’s a big party! The event will have a new name in the year 2021 which will be announced later.

Guild room round: New students circle the guild rooms of the university in groups. In the guild rooms there are students to tell about their own guild and to sell overall patches. It’s a good chance to buy the patches for your own overalls!

Freshman orienteering: In groups people go around a route with locations whereyou can get points according to your performance, outfits, team spirit, bribes (food, drinks) etc. YOu will get a good idea of other freshmen and city of Oulu. The competition ends to a after party.

Mallasappro: In the middle of fall term there’s an event where you drink yourself a degree. You have to drink a certain amount of drinks within a time limit. If you complete the degree you get a patch to show it. All the university participates, the bars in question are in the city centre. Process Engineering students are the organizers.

Abi days: University shows the graduating upper secondary students which study programmes are available for them. Students also tell about their own fields, so Biomedical Engineers as well.

PESTI days: Event, where representatives of companies come to the university to tell about possible career options and summer jobs they have to offer!

Speksis: Speksi is interactive student theatre with musical and dance numbers. If you shout OMSTART you can change the course of the show! There are two local speksis: TerwaSpeksi (medical students) and PahkiSpeksi. Other universities have their own, as well, like NääSpeksi (Tampere) and TeekkariSpeksi (Aalto).

Overall party: Usually in a bar, where all the students come dressed in their overalls. The parties have some sort of theme. You can buy your tickets in advance from the campus. Sometimes they can be arranged in Teekkaritalo or Walhalla.

Interdisciplinary overall party: Finanssi ry’s (economy students) party which is open to all students.

Shrovetide party: Mechanical Engineering students organize a big party every Shrovetide Tuesday (the timing depends each year but usually it is around February-March). The day starts with downhill games in Raksila and ends with a party in a night club. It’s one of those big parties that everybody participates in, no matter in which faculty they study.

Wappu: Student’s Wappu starts long before the actual First of May celebrations. For at least a week, there are parties every day and they culminate to the Wappu Eve party. The Engineering students are well known for their Wappu Celebrations and they have tons of legendary events for Wappu.

“Dippings”: The Engineering student freshmen go dipping in Åström park, it’s one of the most traditional events of Wappu.

Studying Biomedical Engineering in the University of Oulu

The Master´s Program in Biomedical Engineering is offered jointly by two faculties at the University of Oulu, the Faculty of Medicine (FMED) and the Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering (ITEE). The program leads either to the degree of Master of Health Sciences (MHSc) or to the degree of Master of Science (Technology) (MSc). One can apply with university level Bachelor’s (or higher) degree in related field.

Faculty of Medicine has also a Study programme of Medical and Wellness Technology, which consist of three-year Bachelor and two-year Master’s degrees. Students are only accepted via transfer from another Bachelor program.

Students in several other Bachelor programmes can also choose Biomedical Engineering as minor subject.

Information about studying in the university

You can find the updated and most recent information from http://www.oulu.fi/university/new-students . You should read the page carefully and make sure that you have confirmed your study place and university enrolment and registration and paid the student union fee. The site has multiple useful links for more information!

Link to the study guide Peppi: https://opas.peppi.oulu.fi/en/index

Important links:

You can sign in to these apps with your PAJU-account

Other links to check out:

  • Oulun lääketieteen tekniikan opiskelijat ry (OLTO): https://www.olto.fi/en/home/
    • You can find us also on Facebook (OLTO) and Instagram (oltokilta). We will update information about certain events also on Facebook and Instagram.

How to get started

APARTMENT

As a biomedical engineering student you can rejoice, because you can live in pretty much any part of Oulu. That is because often you need to travel between campuses even during your day. However many live right next to one of the campuses: either near Linnanmaa or Kontinkangas/downtown. Possible providers of cheap apartments are e.g. PSOAS, Sivakka, OsNa and SATO to name a few. Apartments are also provided by private sector. You should search for an apartment as soon as you are chosen because during July and August, the competition for student apartments is high.

FURNITURE AND APPLIANCES

Most of the local stores that sell furniture and appliances are located at Ritaharju, Kaakkuri, Limingantulli or Taka-Lyötty. These stores include (but are not limited to) Jysk, Gigantti, Asko, Isku, Sotka, Musta Pörssi, Vepsäläinen, Verkkokauppa etc. The closest IKEA is located at Haaparannalla, which is approximately 130 km North of Oulu.

If you are interested in cheap second hand furniture, there are a few popular options you can choose from. These include Järkikirppis (Raksila), Salvation Army store (Limingantulli) and Tori.fi (online service for buying and selling).

COMMUTING

Best way to travel in Oulu is with a bicycle. There are plenty of good roads for cyclists. If you are looking for a bike, there are plenty of bike shops in Oulu. E.g. Pyörä-Suvala, Jussin Pyöräpiste, Intersport etc. Second hand stores might also have some bikes for sale!

It is also very important to get a lock for you bike since Oulu is also a very popular place for bike thieves. These locks can be found in almost any convenience and hardware stores though it is preferable to purchase your lock from a hardware store or a bike shop.

Oulu also has a public transport system called Waltti. Different travel zones have different prices, but most commonly a student only needs the A-zone card which covers most of Oulu city area (most notably downtown, Linnanmaa and Kontinkangas). You can either purchase a one-way ticket (from the bus with cash!) or a card that can be loaded with one-way tickets or a monthly pass. 30-day pass is 42€ for a student (+ the card itself if you don’t already have one, but this is usually a few more euros). One-way tickets are 3,30€ for A-zone, but only 2,05€ if value is loaded onto the card. More information can be found here: https://waltti.fi/en/front-page/

You can check the bus routes and lines from Google Maps, Nysse mobile application or from  http://jl.oulunliikenne.fi. With the latter ones, you can follow the busses in real time. Only some of the bus stops have this same possibility but all of them do contain timetables.

FOOD

There are some restaurants that serve meals for students with the very low price of 2,70€. These restaurants are most of the ones found in University (either campus). Also Pekuri and ODL have food for offer at this price downtown. More information about the food can be found online or at the restaurants. It should be noted that the student prices are only applied if a valid student card is presented.

Oulu is best known for its pizza and döner kebab but there are a lot of other good restaurants. Go out and see for yourself!

PARKING

Both Linnanmaa and Kontinkangas have parking spaces for students but it should be noted that there isn’t a plethora of them and most of the spaces are taken before 9 o’clock. Also take extra caution to not park anywhere other than designated parking areas. It is very easy to get a ticket for bad parking or having the parking time be overdue. Leaving early and being cautious is key for having a good experience with parking.

FSHS (YTHS in Finnish)

FSHS, Finnish Student Health Service (Ylioppilaiden terveydenhoitosäätiö), is an expert in student healthcare and provides targeted low-threshold services designed to provide long-term health benefits for university students. The services offered for general health, oral health and mental health, as well as our work to promote health and community health, aim to maintain and improve students’ well-being and ability to study. The service works with a callback service in which you can talk with the nurse and possibly order an appointment. During the mornings, you can go to the FSHS center between 8 and 9 am. FSHS center is located at Linnanmaa, Yliopistokatu 1 A. All information can be found at: http://www.yths.fi/en/

KELA

Kela is the social Insurance Institution of Finland that provides social security coverage for Finnish residents and many Finns living abroad through the different stages of their lives. Therefore Kela can grant financial aid to students who study on a full-time basis and are Finnish citizens. However there are some exceptions and you should find out from Kela itself if you are eligible for any compensation or financial support. The financial aid for students includes study grant, government guarantee for student loans and housing supplement. Students who rent a home in Finland may be entitled to general housing allowance. Other benefits for students provided by Kela are, for example, the school transport subsidy, the student loan compensation and subsidised meals. If you are eligible for any of Kela’s services, visit http://www.kela.fi/web/en/financial-aid-for-students-eligibility for more information and leave an application.

New students dictionary

A

Academic fifteen

Unless otherwise stated, most lectures begin 15 minutes after the announced time. For example, a 10.00 lecture starts at 10.15. There are however exceptions so be aware.

Afterparty

A party that continues after the actual main event. Usually takes place at someones apartment or outside.

Alumni

A graduated student

Annual celebration

A glamorous party that celebrates the guilds birthday.

Assistant (Assari)

You can meet these assistants in calculation exercises. They will help you if you can’t manage on your own.

B

Bachelor

A bachelor of a certain field.

Board

The board is a vital organ of the guild. The board organizes events and keeps the guild running. Members of the board are chosen every year in the annual caucus.

Boomerang

Boomerang is an assignment that has been returned to the student for some revisions.

C

Calculation exercise

Some courses have these to help you solve the exercises of a certain course. This is where the assaris come in.

Course credit

These points are gathered by passing courses. You need these points.

D

Dean

Dean is a leader of a faculty.

E

Excursion (excu)

Long or short excrusion to meet a company or a sister guild etc.

F

Finanssi

The guild of Business School students.

Foobar

A restaurant at Linnanmaa.

Foodoo

A restaurant at Linnanmaa.

FSHS

Finnish student health service.

Fuksi

A term for freshmen.

G

Guild

A subject association. Works as the link between students of the same study program.

Guild room

Every guild has their own guild room. OLTO’s is in the room HK208.

H

Hangover (also know as capulence)

The condition that follows a big party. Has different stages of severity.

K

Kaarlenholvi

A very common bar for bar parties.

Kontinkangas

A part of Oulu where the Faculty of Medicine is located.

L

Lecture

The most basic form of teaching. Students listen to a teacher who gives a lecture.

Linnanmaa

The place where the Universitys main campus is located.

LTK

Lääketieteellinen tiedekunta, which means the Faculty of Medicine.

O

OKKL

The University Sports of Oulu.

OLTO

Oulun Lääketieteen Tekniikan Opiskelijat ry (Medical Technology students of Oulu), which is the guild for anyone who is interested in medical technology.

OTY

Technical students association of Oulu.

Overalls

The best and easiest party clothing. You can easily determine students from each other using the color of their overalls and the logos on their backs. OLTO does not have their own overalls, but medical engineering students can order overalls together with medicine students. The overalls are white and look almost identical to medicine students’ overalls, but the logo on the back is different.

Overall patches

You can decorate your overalls using patches that can be bought or earned in different activities.

OYY

Student Union of the University of Oulu.

P

PJ (Chairman)

Is the leader of the guild’s board. You can always contact them if you have questions.

Pre-party

A starting party before the main event.

PSOAS

An institution that rents affordable apartments for students in Oulu.

Pruju (lecture handout)

Contains the most important things in a certain course. Nowadays mostly digital.

PRO

A tutor student whose goal is to guide freshmen.

R

Rotuaari

A walking street in the middle of center of Oulu.

S

Shrovetide

A big party arranged by the guild of Machine Technology.

Student card

Like your other ID card. This card gives you access to all kinds of student discounts.

Sitsit (Sittning)

Academic party where people will sing, eat, drink, give speeches and partake in shows. Sittnings usually have a theme.

Sport pass

A sticker in your student ID that allows you to partake in the shifts hosted by the University Sports of Oulu.

T

Teekkari

A person studying to be a diplomi-insinööri in a university.

Teekkaritalo

A party house at Linnanmaa which is the location of many events.

TEK

Tekniikan Akateemiset. A union for all technology students.

TST

The Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering.

Tuudo

A mobile app that is extremely useful for students.

W

Walhalla

The guild house of medicine students. Also a common party place.

Wappu

The main event of the year. Takes place at the end of April and lasts for weeks.

Weboodi

A page where you can see the timetables for courses and also their grades. Enrolment for the courses is also done through this website.