Primary Care Education Section

Welcome to the MBBS Early Years General Practice Placements

Watch Dr Adrian Brown, Early Years GP Academic Lead video

In the Early Years GP attachments, students seek to understand a patient's perspective of medical conditions and see the importance of holistic care: how psychological and social considerations are important for patient wellbeing. Students reflect on the importance of the GP and primary healthcare team in managing complex conditions and multimorbidity.

For Years 1 and 2 of MBBS 5, students see patients with long-term medical conditions and multimorbidity recruited by the GP  especially for teaching. Students develop their communication skills by interviewing the patients and receiving structured feedback from the GP tutor, followed by a tutorial to reinforce their learning. In Year 2, students follow up on a patient's healthcare encounters across the attachment and reflect on the patient's experiences. In MBBS 4 Yr 1, students interview patients relevant to their PBL week. They also receive feedback from the GP tutor, followed by a tutorial and case-based learning.

Testimonials

"Really enjoyed being able to talk to real patients. Learnt more about medical conditions that I didn’t know much about before. Gained valuable feedback. Improved my communication skills. Learnt more about what it’s like to work in a GP practice. Gives us an opportunity to talk to actual patients and find out their experience. Helpful as we need to take a holistic approach to treating patients instead of focusing on the illness" - M5 Year 1 student

"I had a great time. It really changed my view of becoming a GP which was something I'd never thought I'd consider. It was really useful to talk to the GP herself about being a GP,  the things it involves and get some honest answers. The patients were lovely and the discussions with the GP afterwards were incredibly useful and really tested our own knowledge. The reflective assignment I enjoyed actually because it got me thinking about aspects of healthcare that I hadn't previously e.g. what the patient understands about healthcare and what I could do to help them access it etc. These placements really challenged my assumptions not only clinically but socially too. In depth conversations with patients allowing for a real deeper understanding of the patient journey. Understanding the difficulties faced in primary care. Understanding the complex and long-standing patient - GP relationships." - M5 Year 2 Students

Welcome to the Transitional Year, MBBS General Practice Attachment

Watch Dr Sangeeta Patel, T Year GP Academic Lead video

Welcome to the five-week attachment in General Practice for students in their Transition Year (T Year).  T Year comprises the third year of the school-leavers’ five-year MBBS course and the second year of the graduates’ four-year MBBS course.  So far, these students will have had ‘Clinical Science’ teaching (recognisable to many of us as ‘pre-clinical) - the T Year comprises the Transition to ‘Clinical Practice’ teaching (‘clinical’); that is their first clinical year.

The feedback from students and GP tutors about the course is overwhelmingly positive. Students particularly value the exposure to the breadth of illness, the opportunities to consult with patients when they first present and the personal attention and feedback they received during this attachment.

For many students, it is their first exposure to day-to-day consulting in General Practice, and will bring to life the medical and social theory they have been taught while enabling them to integrate theory with the communication and clinical skills they have learnt. Students will be taught the diagnostic and analytic skills that practising GPs so often take for granted.  Whether their future career is that of a GP or of a hospital specialist, GPT aims to provide them with a deeper understanding of the structure and context of primary care, as well as the rewards and frustrations it brings.

The attachment follows a ‘Hub and Spoke’ model.  For each of the five weeks, there is a theme, covering a major aspect of General Practice.  They will be given the theory at a seminar at SGUL, clinical exposure while sitting in with a GP, reflect upon and integrate that experience in small groups at their ‘Hub’ practices.

The themes reflect those areas in which GPs excel: namely in establishing working diagnoses from the first Presentation of Illness, enabling long-term Therapeutic Relationships, and helping patients find the best path through the health system, for which their doctor needs an understanding of the Context of Healthcare Delivery. Constructive feedback is built into every stage of this attachment, including the assessments and evaluation.

Testimonials

"This placement was absolutely fantastic. It was well organised and there were plenty of opportunities to learn from different healthcare professionals. Learning experiences were very good both in the Hub and the Spoke sessions. I felt I came away with a richer and deeper understanding of both clinical and practical/ethical/social aspects of medicine from both of these environments." - Transitional Year Students

Welcome to the Final Year MBBS, General Practice Attachment

Watch Dr Nicola Buxton, Final Year GP Academic Lead video

The Final Year GP Attachment is enjoyed by our students because it offers senior students the opportunity to see, assess and manage under 1:1 supervision a wide range of health and illness in all age groups in the community over the 5-week block,  The students are supervised by our large network of committed practices.

This evolution through the specialty allows educational progression from a novice learner through to a more experienced clinician. We as a department are closely involved in the delivery of the teaching attachments, to ensure standards of teaching are maintained, with continual improvement using feedback and assessment tools.

Testimonials

“Excellent organisation, I really enjoyed having my own clinic and seeing patients alone. It was very useful in terms of diagnosing common condition, carrying out examinations and explaining diagnoses to patients. I gained a lot of confidence in my practice and skills. This was a truly excellent placement. I had a lot of independence and had morning and afternoon clinics on my own. I always had support from the GPs when needed and all staff at this surgery were incredibly welcoming. I was part of the team immediately.“ - Final Year Students

Primary care education is more important than ever as we teach and inspire the future workforce. It is a core component of undergraduate education and essential for the students as they learn the importance of healthcare in the community.  It teaches students about health and illness within the context of individuals, families and society, along with the integral role that primary care plays within healthcare delivery, and it’s interface with secondary care.

The Primary Care department at City St George's is responsible for all General Practice teaching throughout the MBBS curriculum, from tutorials to small group teaching sessions, clinical placements and practice assistantships. We are hugely grateful to all our community GP tutors who, along with our administrators and academic team, enable us to continue to deliver excellent teaching and training for all our students year on year.

We would love to hear from you if you or your practice are interested in teaching our fabulous City St George’s students. Please see below for further information about getting involved.

Getting involved - Tutor Recruitment

Most of our teaching opportunities involve hosting and teaching medical students in practice.

As an introduction to teaching, we run the George’s Academic Teaching Essentials (GATE) course, which is mandatory for all new community GP tutors who have not completed an introduction to teaching course previously.  We also provide educational training and CPD sessions to support the ongoing development and teaching skills of all our tutors.

Testimonials

"I’ve been a GP tutor on the SGUL MBBS Programme for several years now, hosting both first and second year students at the practice. It’s something I have thoroughly enjoyed, and hope to continue to do for the rest of my career.
Seeing the enthusiasm and enjoyment the first years have during their first encounters with patients is really lovely, and the placements are something I wish I’d had during my early years full of lectures and dissection! It’s also exceptionally rewarding watching the students develop their communication skills throughout their sessions, and build rapport and relationships with patients so early on in their training. Initially I struggled with patient recruitment for the students’ visits, but now I find some of my ‘regulars’ asking when the students are coming back to the practice and whether they can get involved again! I’d highly recommend the GP Tutor role to any GP interested in teaching, looking to add some variety to their working week. SGUL are able to offer some flexibility with the frequency and number of students the practice agrees to host, which has been really useful when planning workforce arrangements in the ever-busy General Practice world!" - Dr Oliver Mumby, The Greyswood Practice

"I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience of being an early years GP tutor over the last two years. I have had the pleasure of teaching M4 Year 1 and M5 Years 1 & 2 students and found it to be both rewarding and fulfilling! As well as being able to shape the next generation of doctors, I have learnt plenty from them along the journey. City St George’s University teaching department have always been supportive and easily accessible if you have any queries. They provide thorough teaching materials to make the whole process seamless and less time consuming for us as GPs who are juggling multiple commitments! I look forward to continuing to teach their students." - Dr Nikita Shah, Wandsworth Medical Centre

If you are interested in teaching for City St George’s please email PrimaryCareEduc@sgul.ac.uk and we will contact you with details of the teaching requirements and remuneration.

MBBS programme teaching opportunities

Watch these videos with Dr Adrian Brown and Dr Nicola Buxton describing teaching opportunities in the Early Years and Final Year of the MBBS programme.

MBBS Clinical Science GP Teaching Opportunities at City St George's, University of London

MBBS F Year GP Assistantship Teaching at St George's, University of London

Clinical placement partner agreements

MBBS Quality Standards for Clinical Placements

The MBBS Quality Standards for Clinical Placements outline the standards of clinical teaching expected of our teaching partners, affiliated hospital trusts and general practices. We aim to foster high standards and excellence in clinical teaching for all our students. The document details the essential core requirements to be delivered on each placement and which can be monitored as part of a robust quality assurance process. In addition, the MBBS Quality Standards for Clinical Placements outlines Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that are monitored closely through student end of placement feedback. The MBBS Quality Standards for Clinical Placements are reviewed biennially or upon major changes to the curriculum.

Students are attached to a practice for three weeks and explore how to do part of a quality improvement project by choosing a primary care service area, exploring the background, considering how to measure quality of this aspect of our service, collecting and reviewing data (generally from the electronic patient record), and create a poster showing their results.

There is direction and support for tutors, and practices find the student work valuable support for their quality improvement work

Student Selected Component Final Year 'Leadership and Management in Primary Care'

For general practice in 23/24 , we are piloting  SSCF 'Leadership and Management in Primary Care'. : This is a non-clinical immersion in the leadership and management skills required for delivering primary care services. It is anticipated students will spend time with managers and clinical leaders, and include some quality improvement work.

The aims of the placement are:

• for the student to reflect on their current leadership competencies and develop a plan to develop these further during the attachment
• to investigate how primary care providers strategically respond to National and Local health strategic plans
• to investigate how primary care providers interface with users from clinical care to quality improvement, compliments and complaints
• to critically evaluate how primary care providers use human and fiscal resources for the delivery of high quality, safe and efficient primary care.

Student Selected Component Final Year 'Clinical attachment'

This is a five-week clinical block which students can choose to spend in a clinical environment they are interested in. As all students are timetabled for a primary care attachment in Final Year, few students choose to do an additional five weeks; but if they do, we will ask our teaching practices if they are interested in having the student placed with them.

We would love to hear from you if you and your practice is interested in teaching for our fabulous students and City St George's, University of London. Please email your details to PrimaryCareEduc@sgul.ac.uk and we will contact you. 

Details of tutor involvement and pay are here.

iBSc Module

This module will focus on the diversity and complexity of primary care in the UK Health system. It demonstrates the delivery of health care in the community from cradle to grave considering the role of the GP and multidisciplinary team, population health and the political and policy-based context of health care.

The module will provide an opportunity to learn from GPs and health practitioners with a wide range of expertise. Undertaking this module will introduce students to the breadth of primary health care, the demands on the service and the future direction of care.  It will include clinical content as portrayed through case presentations, patient and doctor narratives and contemporary and historical literature.  It will provide the opportunity to develop critical reading skills while considering the scope of general practice as an academic discipline.

The module aims to provide a stimulating learning environment for students to explore:

• the concepts of diversity and complexity in primary care within the context of the life course
• the practice of primary care through case presentation, clinical research, medical humanities literature and patient narrative
• an overview of current and future models of and demands on, UK primary healthcare services.

This taught module is delivered wholly by the primary care education group and is run by Dr Nicola Buxton and Emma Metters.

City St Georges Primary Care Specialty Medicine Placement: A new teaching opportunity in Primary Care undergraduate education.

From the 2027/28 academic year, City St George’s, University of London will introduce an exciting new Primary Care Specialty Placement for medical students in their Specialties (Penultimate) Year.

This innovative placement allows students to explore key specialty areas - such as women’s health, child health, prison health, and care of older adults from a primary care perspective (or through a primary care lens), while gaining a deeper understanding of the breadth of the GP role and interface with secondary care.

Students will spend four days in general practice over a two-week period, working under the supervision of an experienced GP tutor. A sample timetable is provided below; however, the final model is still being refined, and we welcome input and suggestions from hosting practices.

Learn more.