GP Placement

PhysiologyRocks

I have a few of these this year. Anybody have any tips?

Is there anything I should read? Anything I should know?

Any help much appreciated.

GradMed

What each GP will expect from you will vary, and so will what you get from your placements, but have a good knowledge of material covered to date in the course.

With my 1st year placements we took a history, interpreted some ecgs and generally got to see how doctors interact with patients in a community setting. Some classmates did a lot more and others much less.

Before you start the doctor will lay down some ground rules, how much a role if any you can have in the consultation etc, so take your lead from that.
Listening to patients can be a great help as you can put their face to a disease you've only read about and it'll help you too remember it in the future.

Don't be offended if a patient requests you leave for a consult and if the doctor is too busy to devote time to you, that said if you're ignored or don't get to sit in on any consults mention this to the placement organiser and they will hopefully try to assign you to a more suitable gp.
Dress neatly, treat both staff and patients with courtesy and respect and above all enjoy the placement. It's great to get out of the lecture room and see patients.

PhysiologyRocks

Thanks very much for your reply.

I'm really looking forward to it (except for the effing clothes-buying prior to the event:eek: - put it off all summer).

To be fair, I apply the be polite and respectful part to life in general, not just work placements. I'll deffo read up on the ole diseases before I go - and take histories from my friends.:)

AmcD

Don't worry, you aren't expected to know very much. GP placements are more of an opportunity to see how a consultation works. It also gives you an idea of how illnesses and problems really affect people on a day-to-day basis. As well as illness, there is plenty of "normal life" e.g. antenatal care and six week baby checks.
When I have had students sitting in with me I normally try to grab a chance to say what was going on in the consult, or explain the background social history. It is a help when the student appears to be interested. On the other hand I found it quite off-putting when I had a male student who was so keen that he practically sat on my keyboard because he wanted to be part of the action. Always ask questions if you are given an opportunity.
General practice is a rotation where you should learn very ordinary practical stuff, that is not taught in medical school e.g.
-How to approach a small child with a temperature (probably more likely to be viral, rather than juvenile arthritis or an exacerbation of cystic fibrosis).
-Explaining how to start the oral contraceptive pill or how to take emergency contraception
-How to decide if somebody needs to go to A+E

PhysiologyRocks

Thanks, that's really helpful. I'll try not to appear too enthusiastic, so. I probably couldn't look disinterested if I tried!:)

DrIndy

When I did GP - yonks ago - I had a really crap dublin GP who was disinterested as hell and a really sound navan GP who got me stuck into everything else.

He sent me in to see a couple of heartsink patients and then another who was faking back pain for an insurance claim all to see how I reacted. I actually really enjoyed this because despite being a student - I could elucidate something different out of this interaction. I would play with the kids when the parents brought them in to settle them (something I still do in ED today).

GP is actually great fun and hugely enjoyable (I was totally turned off from the first GP and then became really interested with the second GP). The plethora and sheer breadth of disease is amazing - you go from a patient in denial that they need to take a cholesterol tablet to someone with chest pain (turned out to be a STEMI) who got goaded to go in by their family! The approach to every patient is different.

The only other place where you see this huge breadth of disease is Emergency Medicine but the slant is totally different.