If a student is unable to attend placement what should the student do?

If a student is unable to attend, they are expected to: Email their phase one or two officer Email the Medicine Placements team Telephone the practice before the start time of their scheduled activities

Year 3 medicine placements supervisor information

A nine-week clinical module in year three focussing on general practice.

This placement focusses on the care of patients and populations in a primary care setting.

What is the structure of year three?

Introduction to Clinical Practice

Year three begins with Introduction to Clinical Practice (ICP) Week. During this week students will attend some induction sessions. These will be both on campus and in hospital. They'll have the chance to meet the year three staff.

Students will be introduced to some of the different teaching methods that will be used in year three. Also to the assessments that will take place and to the year three portfolio. A session about Student Selected Components in year three will also take place.

Following this, the rest of year three is split into four clinical modules:

General medicine
Care and community
Surgery
General Practice

During their time in general practice, students will have a teaching week during week three of their placement.

Weekly structure for general practice

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Clinical Placement Activity (CPA)	Campus Day	Self-directed learning (SDL)
Six half-day sessions timetabled flexibly across the seven day week (excluding campus days and teaching weeks).	Tuesday	Two half-day sessions timetabled flexibly across the seven day week (excluding campus days and teaching week).

The equivalent of six half days of clinical placement activity (CPA) will be timetabled each week. These may be timetabled flexibly. This is at the discretion of the placement provider across any day of the seven-day week excluding campus days and teaching weeks.

Evenings may also be utilised. Long shifts, the equivalent of up to three half-day sessions (approximately 12 hours) are acceptable. This would mirror practice in Foundation year one. Two half-day sessions of self-directed learning (SDL) should also be timetabled. This time is for self-study or may also be used by the student to work on their Student Selected Component project and other coursework. At least one weekend day should be left free of either CPA or SDL each week.

Example timetable

Week one

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	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
9:00-10:30	Welcome and Induction	Campus day all day	Meet and sit in with clinical pharmacist	Meet with audit supervisor to plan	Home Study day
10:30-12:00	Spend time in admin/reception
12:00-13:00	Lunch		Lunch	Lunch
13:00-14:00	Initial meeting with named GP supervisor		Practice meeting	Home visits
14:00-17:00	Emis training		Observe GP clinic	Observe GP clinic

Example timetable

Week two-eight

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	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
AM	Audit time	Campus day all day	Asthma clinic	Diabetes clinic	Home Study day
10:30-12:00	HCA phlebotomy clinic
12:00-13:00	Lunch		Lunch	Lunch
13:00-14:00	Home visits		Practice meeting	Case presentation to FY1 or above
PM	GP clinic*		GP clinic	GP clinic

*GP clinic - allocate student one patient to take history from if possible.

Please note these are just examples to give some ideas. We know every practice works differently and the student is expected to do 6 sessions over the 4 days so working patterns may differ.

Activities to complete on placement:

EMIS training
Audit
Three clerkings per week
One case presentation to a doctor per week
DOPs if possible
Two Mini-CEXs
Portfolio

The time allocated for the audit should be three sessions to include initial meeting and planning and data collection.

The reminder of the time needed for the audit should be during the students’ home study time. There will also need to be some time allocated for the mid point and end of placement meeting with the named GP Supervisor.

Year three FAQs

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For practices attached to MLCSU they have very kindly agreed to provide EMIS training for our year three students. This is a one-hour online session. The students will need access to Teams on a full screen (not their mobile phones).

They do not need EMIS access for this training. They will receive training in the basics of how to add a consultation. Please supply students with an EMIS log in so they can add consultations when seeing patients.

If you wish to arrange extra training that is fine. The students will need support for searches for the audit.

Recording activity on placement – clerking, presentations and clinical case logs

During the Clinical Module students must undertake a number of activities which are recorded in their portfolio as follows:

Minimum 3 clerkings per week, which students must log against the list of Core Clinical Presentations for the module. A sample Core Clinical Presentations Log for illustration is given in the appendix. Students may log one case against up to three presentations, if appropriate. They must bring this log to their meetings with you for it to be reviewed.

One case presentation per week to a doctor FY1 level or above

Clinical case logs – there is no specific weekly requirement for these but students must complete two per nine-week module with a total of eight across the year. Students are required to enter clinical details and reflective notes on each case. The student’s Academic Advisor (AA) will assess these case logs. We do however ask if you can ensure that the student is compliant with the requirements and are engaged with the process. You are not expected to mark the logs or provide feedback.

Workplace-Based Assessments (WBAs)

Students are required to successfully complete a number of work based assessments including:

DOPS (Directly Observed Procedural Skill)
Mini CEX (Mini Clinical Evaluation Exercise)

The WBA are monitored and assessed by the Clinical Skills Team. Students must undertake both DOPs and mini-CEX during each clinical module and it is obviously helpful if this process can be facilitated. A Workplace-Based Skills Tutor is regularly available to assist students with this process and to identify and train assessors in the clinical areas.

The Skills Tutor will also monitor students’ progression against their WBA requirements and may liaise with yourself as supervisor if there are any concerns. There is no requirement for yourself as a supervisor to monitor or review your student’s WBAs.

Role of the supervisor

Supervision and meetings

As a supervisor your main role will be to oversee your student(s) progress during the module and provide feedback. Students will be given your name at induction in the introduction week and details of how to make contact.

Meeting forms

The clinical supervisor (or placement) e-forms are used to record the supervision meetings with your student. They must be completed by both the student (before) and their supervisor (during) each meeting. The completed e-form is then recorded in the student’s portfolio. The meetings should take place face to face whenever possible.

The forms live within the “Pebble Pad” e-portfolio account of the student and should be completed as below. The student will either bring a tablet PC to the meetings and will access the forms on that, or via any desktop PC. Forms are always accessed via the student’s account – supervisors do not need their own direct access to My Progress.

First meeting form

This should be completed at the initial meeting in week one of the module. You should aim to discuss the following:

Aims for the module
Concerns / likely challenges
Any learning needs which the student identified in the last module and is taking forward
Learning outcomes and core clinical presentations and conditions for the module. It is helpful if these can be discussed to determine whether students have any questions.
Minimum requirements for clerking’s, presentations and clinical case logs discussed
Timetable – this should be discussed to answer any student queries
Date of next meeting – if possible, this should be fixed at this point
Start to discuss plans for the audit (SSC3) (link to SSC3 Section)

Mid-point meeting form

This should be completed half-way through the module. The student should have completed a self-assessment of their:

Progress so far on the placement
Any concerns or challenges
Their Learning Needs with a SMART Action Plan

These should be discussed during the meeting.

The supervisor should also ensure that:

The student is meeting the requirements for clerkings and presentations (as evidenced by their Core Clinical Presentations Log)
The student is on track with their Clinical Case Logs (two per nine-week module)
Check the student is on track with their audit
Any issues with attendance or timekeeping/punctuality have been recorded. Consider completing a Professionalism Lapse Event Form if necessary

Feedback summary to the student:

What is the student doing well? What should they continue doing? What should they work on? What should they stop doing? Date of next meeting; if possible, this should be arranged at this point.

Final meeting form

This should be completed in the final week of the module. This is a summative evaluation of the student’s performance throughout the module. The student must be given a grading of “Satisfactory” or “Not yet satisfactory”. A grading of “Not yet satisfactory” may affect the student’s ability to progress on the course as they may be required to re-take the module. A remediation plan will be agreed with the student by the Phase 2 team. The completion is monitored by the Phase 2 Senior Team, not by yourself.

The student should have completed a self-assessment of their: 

Overall progress on the placement 
Clinical communication 
Medical knowledge 
Clinical and examination skills 
Professionalism

The supervisor should also ensure that:

The student has met the requirements for clerkings and presentations (as evidenced by their Core Clinical Presentations Log)
The student is on track with their Clinical Case Logs
Any issues with attendance or timekeeping/punctuality have been recorded. Consider issuing a Professionalism Development Opportunity via completion of an Event Form if necessary.

The Supervisor should record their overall summative judgement as to whether the student’s performance on the whole has been “Satisfactory” or is “Not yet satisfactory”. You should base this decision on a number of factors such as:

Your own observations of the student
Feedback from the wider team
Review of the Log Book
Review of the Core Clinical Presentations Log
Engagement with their Clinical Case Logs

By stating that a student’s performance is satisfactory, you are confirming that you are happy for them to progress to the next step in their training. It is important that we do not “fail to fail” students whose performance does not meet the standard expected for their level of training. If you are not satisfied with their progress then your judgement should reflect this.

If only minor actions are required to remediate, then agree these with the student and arrange a date to meet again as soon as possible. The student and yourself will need to complete a second Final Meeting Form at that meeting.

If the problem is more serious, this will require the input of the Phase 2 team. Please email details of your concern to the Phase 2 Officer for Year 3. The Phase 2 team will discuss the remediation required and will liaise with you about completion of this and subsequent sign-off.

If you rate a student’s performance as “Not Yet Satisfactory” for whatever reason, you MUST complete an Event Form Notification. Details of this are included within the meeting form within the portfolio.

If you have any concerns or questions regarding making an assessment of a student’s performance you are encouraged to contact the Director of Clinical Studies who will be happy to discuss this with you.

Student procedure for meetings

In advance of the meeting, the student will complete their part of the form on a Word template.

The student will upload the Word document to the e-form before the supervisor meeting.

Medicine placement FAQs

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If a student is unable to attend, they are expected to:

Email their phase one or two officer
Email the Medicine Placements team
Telephone the practice before the start time of their scheduled activities

If your student doesn't turn up and and you have not been informed of their absence inform the Medicine Placements team as soon as possible so we can make sure that they are safe.

If you have concerns about a student’s attendance, please issue a Professionalism Development Opportunity via completion of an Event Form. The Event Form system has options for Wellbeing and Safety, and Professionalism Lapses.

Choose whichever one you feel is most appropriate for the situation as you understand it. This will then be dealt with by the Professionalism, Wellbeing and Safety Tutor or Lead for Professionalism who will take appropriate action.

Please be assured that all students will have had a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check by the University prior to being allowed to attend placement. The student will have a copy of this, and we ask they have this available if you need to check.

The students also must complete the E-Learning for Health module for their year group. This includes safeguarding adults and children level 2 and resuscitation.

Please send out an email to the student introducing them to the practice and include a timetable if possible. Set out the expectations for the first day including expected time of arrival and the practice address (this is especially important if the practice has more than one site). Perhaps include some travel hints if necessary.

Student feedback is essential as it enables us to monitor and improve what we do. We are also required to submit such data to our regulatory body, the General Medical Council.

In phase 2, student feedback gets collected via four methods:

Clinical Module Evaluation Form – students will get asked to complete this at the end of every clinical module or sub-module. Questions will cover all aspects of the module including campus day and placements (including GP).
Module evaluation questionnaire – these get administered at the end of the academic year. The questionnaire covers all aspects of the programme over the entire year.
Staff Student Liaison Committee – this meets each term and issues are brought to the meeting by the student representatives.
Unitu – this is an online platform that allows students to raise issues and propose solutions for the school to consider.

All feedback can be anonymous if desired.

Feedback is part of students’ professional responsibilities and is not an optional activity. Students are encouraged to give constructive feedback rather than just critical.

Students will be informed about any actions taken based on feedback via the Staff Student Liaison Committee and through the twice yearly “You Said, We Did” sessions.

If there is any important feedback relating to a GP placement, a GP Tutor from the Work-Based Learning Team will discuss this with the practice involved.

You will receive a copy of the feedback from the students after each placement which should be useful for planning of future placements.

Your saved courses

Year 3 medicine placements supervisor information

What is the structure of year three?

Introduction to Clinical Practice

Student selected component (SSC)

Weekly structure for general practice

Example timetable

Week one

Example timetable

Week two-eight

Year three FAQs

How can I arrange EMIS training?

What are the requirements for the students while on placement?

Recording activity on placement – clerking, presentations and clinical case logs

Workplace-Based Assessments (WBAs)

Role of the supervisor

Supervision and meetings

Meeting forms

First meeting form

Mid-point meeting form

Final meeting form

Student procedure for meetings

Medicine placement FAQs

If a student is unable to attend placement what should the student do?

If a student does not attend placement as planned - what should the practice do?

What do I do if I have concerns about a student's attendance?

What do students need to do prior to placement?

What should the practice do prior to placement?

Students with a disability

Influenza and Coronavirus vaccinations

Student feedback