Undergraduate Primary Care Teaching

This is a community-based module for year one medical students at Imperial College. It runs from October until March. The aim of the placement is for students to learn about and integrate the biological, psychological and social aspects of health, illness and disease, and relate these to patient experiences and health outcomes. This is the first contact students will have with patients at medical school.

Teaching commitment

Groups of 5-6 students will spend 8 Thursdays in a GP Practice over the course of the year between October and March.

There are four core activities: patient conversations, GP clinics, a community survey project and group tutorials.

There is flexibility as to how these are done.

Practices must commit to the full year (Oct to March).

Fee information

£8,448  for 6 students every other Thursday
£16,896  for 6 students every Thursday

Placement Lead: Dr Viral Thakerar
Administrator: Mr Michael Goetzinger

This is a new community-based module for Year 2 medical students at Imperial College from November until March. The aim is for students to further develop skills in applying the biopsychosocial model to patient care, to practice taking histories and to develop health coaching skills in preparation for their clinical placements in year 3 and build on their skills learnt in primary care during PCH in year 1.

Teaching commitment

Groups of 5-6 students will spend 5 Tuesdays in a GP Practice over the course of the year between November and March.

There are four core activities: health coaching, GP teaching clinics, a community collaboration project and group tutorials. There is flexibility as to when during the day these are done.

Practices must commit to the full year (Nov to March).

Fee information

£5,280  for 6 students every other Tuesday
£10,560  for 6 students every Tuesday

Placement Lead: Dr Viral Thakerar
Administrator: Mr Michael Goetzinger

MICA aims to provide students with a longitudinal learning experience where they will spend 9 or 8 weeks as an ‘apprentice’ in a General Practice. The aim is to provide an immersive experience where students will learn about all aspects of life as a GP.

As part of the placement students are required to run their own independent parallel consulting clinics, working in their own consulting room alongside their supervising GP holding their own surgery. They will spend some time visiting patients at home and carrying out a Community Action Project (CAP) which aims to make a significant and sustainable difference to the local community – this project is presented at the end of term.

Teaching commitment

A pair of students will be allocated to you for 7 sessions a week over a 9 or 8 week period.

On a weekly basis this consists of 4 independent clinics (one of which may be an ‘experience’ session), 1 tutorial, 1 visiting session and 1 session for CAP project time.

Students will attend an ‘experience session’ within a specialised clinic arranged either within your Practice or centrally by the medical school. These may consist of the students spending time with other healthcare professionals in the Practice (for e.g. nurses, HCAs, pharmacists) or joining a specialised clinic held at the Practice (e.g. minor surgery, Diabetes, COPD, Asthma).

In addition students will carry out home visits once per week to patients with long term conditions. Tutorials once per week will also be delivered, topics for these will be linked to the clinical skills and methods teaching that the students receive once per week in a hospital setting.

Fee Information

Term 1 - 9 weeks £11,088
Term 2 - 8 weeks £9,856
Term 3 - 8 weeks £9,856

Placement Lead: Dr Renee Ewe
Administrator: Mr Stephen Platt

Our GPPHC placement teaches students to apply a patient-centred approach to illness. The students observe the close doctor-patient relationship and the roles of other healthcare professionals in general practice.

GPPHC is the ideal opportunity for the students to develop their consultation and clinical skills. They also learn about the roles and responsibilities of a GP and other allied health professionals, e.g. Health Visitor, Pharmacist, and District Nurse. The attachment begins with an introduction and ends with a debrief in the Department. Twenty-one sessions are spent in the practice. Two further sessions in the Department concentrate on consultation skills, using role play with an actor and video feedback and cancer care in the community.

We would like the students to be involved with all the different aspects of a practice and its staff.

Teaching commitment

The GPPHC placement runs twelve times per year and you may teach on as many, or as little of these as you wish. Students are completely submerged into practice life for the three weeks and the support and encouragement they receive from you and your practice team will be essential. You will discuss personal learning objectives, ensure your student achieves essential activities including DOPS, provide them with a patient with chronic illness to complete patient project and deliver one to one teaching.

Most importantly, students will independently consult under the supervision of you and time must be identified for them to receive feedback.

Fee information

Hosting a student for three weeks, 12 times in a year - £24,288 for a full year or £2,024 per rotation

Placement Lead: Dr Neepa Thacker
Administrator: Mr Michael Goetzinger

All students undertake an SCP (Specialty Choice Placement) in year 5. This is a 3-week block where students can explore a specialty that they have enjoyed in more depth or perhaps try something completely new that isn’t covered in the MBBS curriculum.

Do you have a special interest as a GP? Or does your practice offer something unusual in addition to your day-to-day clinics? If so, an SCP could be for you! If you have an idea about an SCP that you would like to set up at your practice, we would love to talk to you more about this. Please complete this form and we will be in touch to discuss further.

Teaching commitment
SCPs run 12 times a year from July – May and you can sign up for as many or as few rotations that would work for you and your practice. The timetable is flexible and students usually spend around 7 sessions per week at the practice.

Fee information
Payment for the placement is £2,016 per student, per 3-week placement (based on 7 sessions/week). Usually, SCPs are designed for 1-2 students.

SCP Co-ordinator: Mr Tom Rozier-Hope

The Year 6 General Practice Senior Assistantship (GPSA) aims to prepare students towards graduation by developing their skills in consulting and managing patients independently, under close supervision. Students should be given opportunities to become fully immersed in the work and life of the practice, as they work alongside their supervising GP. They should hold their own clinics so that they can improve their consulting and decision-making processes whilst dealing with everyday primary care problems, and start to learn the art of managing risk and uncertainty, all of which underpin high-quality general practice.

The placement assessments are designed to support this learning in practice and facilitate giving feedback and reflection.

Teaching commitment

The GPSA runs five times per year from August to December and you may teach on as many, or as few of these as you wish. Practices for this placement are based outside of London so that students experience general practice in a different setting to placements they will have attended in earlier years. 

The placement is for four weeks, with the first and last day taking place at the department for consultation skills and clinical reasoning group teaching. Other departmental teaching will also be organised during the four weeks via online webinars.

The placements are residential and students will need local accommodation. In some cases, students stay with their GP Teachers or someone from the practice, or they may arrange their own accommodation as many students take the opportunity to stay at home.

Whilst on the placement, students will need to complete a number of their own GP clinics (under supervision), complete a brief quality improvement project as well as two case-based discussions, two mini-clinical evaluation exercises and two prescribing student tasks.

Fee information

Fees are for 1 student for 4 weeks in a UK practice outside London. Practices may request to host 2 students if space and supervisory arrangements allow.

£2,552 per student per placement
£3,752 per student per placement (if accommodation provided)

Placement Lead: Dr Sian Powell
Administrator: Mr Stephen Platt