Hull York Medical School seeks GP practices to help train next generation of doctors

Following its award of 90 additional places as part of a national expansion of undergraduate medical education, Hull York Medical School has more opportunities for GPs and practices to offer placements for its undergraduate medicine students

Hull York Medical School are providing further opportunities for GPs and practices to work with them to help inspire current medicine students – the workforce of the future. The School already works with over 100 GP practices but now, following its award of 90 additional places as part of a national expansion of undergraduate medical education, has more opportunities for GPs and practices to offer placements for its undergraduate medicine students.

Professor Una Macleod, Dean of Hull York Medical School and a practising GP herself believes that giving students experience of primary care is essential in ensuring they are prepared for life as a doctor. She says ‘Approximately 90% of all patient contacts in the NHS are in primary care and often the GP is their first point of contact. By providing early and sustained exposure in a primary care setting, medicine students have the opportunity to interact with patients from a wide variety of backgrounds and with a wide variety of conditions – an essential part of their medical training.

‘Being a good doctor is more than just delivering a diagnosis and offering treatment, it is about being able to communicate with patients often when they are at their most vulnerable – recognising those factors which may impact a person’s health and offering solutions to improve their lives.’

Through a unique partnership with the universities of Hull and York, regional NHS Trusts and community healthcare providers, the school offers exceptional medical education – centred on problem based learning, clinical and communication skills and early and sustained clinical exposure. Students on the MB BS Medicine programme experience placements from week 3 across primary and secondary healthcare settings throughout the region.

Dr Judith Matthews, GP Partner at Helmsley Medical Centre and Terrington Surgery in York, and Associate Director of Primary Care Education at Hull York Medical School, currently offers placements to undergraduate MB BS Medicine students. She believes teaching students to be a very rewarding experience.

She says: ‘I am a GP in Helmsley Medical Centre, year 5 tutor and Educational Supervisor, and Associate Director of Primary Care Education in York.  I started teaching year 5 in Helmsley when Hull York Medical School first set up, and have continued to enjoy this for the past 11 years.

‘Prior to this I had no teaching experience as my practice is too small to be a training practice. Hull York Medical School provided all the tutor training I needed, and as I realised how much I enjoyed education I undertook the PGCME, which helped me develop and enjoy my teaching, and allowed me to increase my involvement with Hull York Medical School, as Associate Director of Primary Care Education.

‘Teaching year 5 students is a very rewarding experience. The students are very nearly qualified at this stage, conduct their own surgeries, and enrich the practice team greatly. Patients enjoy consulting with a student, and as a tutor and role model it ensures I stay both up to date, and positive about general practice in today's very challenging NHS environment.’

As well as being involved in the training of the workforce of the future, there are many benefits to becoming a placement provider. These include the opportunity to showcase general practice as a career, helping to increase the number of doctors entering GP training following Foundation Year Training, developing links with students which may provide recruitment opportunities in the future and also adding variety to the clinical week.

Dr Kevin Anderson, Director of Education for the Academy of Primary Care at Hull York Medical School and practising GP, believes offering placements to students provides opportunities for GPs to develop their own skills too. He says: ‘As a GP trainer and appraiser I recognise the value of providing opportunities for GPs to develop their teaching skills and careers. Providing placements enables GPs to pursue a portfolio career balancing clinical sessions with education as well as helping them to keep their own clinical knowledge up to date’.

Placements vary from half a day per week to one full day per week for MB BS Medicine students on Years 1-4 of their programme, to full-time placements lasting up to 8 weeks for final year students.  The school is also developing innovative new types of placements, called longitudinal integrated clerkships, whereby students will spend up to 3 days per week in general practice for a full academic year providing increased opportunity for continuity with patients and tutors and also allowing the students to become more immersed in the local community.

The School have organised two information events to give GPs and Practice Managers the opportunity to find out more about working with Hull York Medical School. These will be held on:

University of York: Tuesday 27 November 2018, 7-8.30pm
University of Hull: Tuesday 4 December 2018, 7-8.30pm

For more information and to book on an information event, please visit our website. For any queries about these events, please email primarycare@hyms.ac.uk