MBBS - Semester 12 (Information for Students)
Learning Objectives
Choosing a practice
Rotation dates
Orientation
Attendance requirements
Leave of Absence
Tutorials
Assessment requirements
Rural Travel and Accommodation policy
Policies and Procedures
Forms and Resources
The General Practice term is a core subject taught in Semester 12. Similar to your Medicine and Surgery terms there is a set curriculum with learning objectives for this rotation achieved through placements in local practices and in group tutorials and lectures. This ensures that each student is prepared adequately for the final examinations covering this curriculum and for work in their intern year.
You will be allocated to an urban or rural general practice for a 5 week rotation. You are required to attend full day sessions at the practice; a consulting day is divided into 2 sessions - morning and afternoon, and some practices also have evening sessions available for your participation. You are required to attend the compulsory orientation program on the first two days of your rotation at the General Practice and Primary Health Care Academic Centre in Berkeley St, Parkville. You are expected to attend the remainder of the days at the practice and encouraged to have some experience of weekend work. You must also attend weekly tutorials during the rotation at a time arranged by your tutor; if you are placed at a practice that is more than 1 hour’s travel time from the tutorial location you will need to teleconference into the tutorials. 100% attendance at clinical placements is a hurdle requirement.
Learning Objectives
Core learning objectives of the GP block of Semester 12
- Clinical problem solving: Demonstrate the necessary skills in diagnosis, management, organisation, critical appraisal, ethics, knowledge and communication to enable clinical decision-making and competent management of a range of common presentations in general practice.
- Health promotion and preventative care: Be aware of opportunities and strategies for health promotion and preventative care in general practice
- Context of care: Understand the context of care in general practice, especially the social, family, cultural, geographical and psychological influences on health.
- Role of the GP: Understand the central role of the GP within the health care system
- Clinical organisation and practice management: Demonstrate competency in basic clinical organisation. Have a basic knowledge of the regulations governing general practice. Understand basics of general practice management
- Personal and professional development: Develop strategies for self-appraisal, reflective practice and continuing education
Rotation Dates 2012
Rotation 1: 23rd July – 24th August
Rotation 2: 27th August – 28th September
Rotation 3: 1st October – 2nd November
Orientation
All students must attend a two day orientation program on the Parkville campus during the first two days of the rotation. The program consists of a series of lectures and small group sessions. A timetable will be available on the LMS and in your student GP handbook.
Attendance Requirements
You must complete your attendance form for your placement and this must be signed off by your GP Supervisor or Practice Manager. Please submit completed attendance forms to the General Practice and Primary Health Care Academic Centre, 200 Berkeley St, Carlton, 3052, at the conclusion of your placement. Please do not count tutorial attendance on this form. Your tutor will have an attendance list and record your attendance at tutorials. A placement attendance form will be made available to you prior to your placement. A blank attendance form is available in the student forms and resources section of this website.
100% attendance at clinical placements is a hurdle requirement.
75% attendance at lectures, pracs, and tutorials is a hurdle requirement.
If you are going to be absent from your placement for any reason, you must let your practice know as soon as possible on the day of absence. Absences must be accounted for with a medical certificate or other supporting documentation and attached to your attendance form.
Leave of Absence
Please refer to the leave of absence policy for MBBS students available here:
http://medicine.unimelb.edu.au/students/policies
Students must apply to their clinical dean in the first instance, using the relevant form.
Tutorials
Students must attend four tutorials during the rotation, in weeks 1, 2, 4, and 5. The tutorials will run for approximately 90 minutes and are facilitated by experienced GP tutors. You will be notified of the time and place for each tutorial prior to the week 1 tutorial. If your placement is located in a rural area and more than 1 hour’s travel time from the tutorial location you will be permitted to phone in to the tutorial and teleconferencing phone numbers will be provided. Detailed information on each tutorial is included in the student GP handbook. GP tutors can be used as an independent mentor and can be contacted with concerns during your placement. They are also able to raise these issues with the subject coordinators if necessary.
Assessment
Principles
Semester 12 is assessed as Pass/Fail.
All Semester 12 assessment, except the student supervisor mark, mini-CEX’s, and review of the learning planner, will be at the end of the semester.
The learning planner is a hurdle requirement and will be reviewed in each block by learning planner supervisors. In the case of your GP rotation this is your GP tutor.
Students are expected to demonstrate evidence of clinical practice experience, and of clinical knowledge, skills and attitudes at a level appropriate to a newly graduated intern.
There are no written examinations.
Learning Planner for GP Rotation Semester 12 (Hurdle)
The hurdle requirement of the learning planner in your GP rotation is fulfilled by the completion of four General Practice cases appropriately documented and covering one GP management plan, one health assessment task, one referral letter and two observed Mini-Clinical Evaluation Exercises (Mini-CEX’s)
1. A GP Management Plan or Mental Health Plan
2. A Health Assessment
3. Write a referral letter to a medical specialist for a patient with a complex condition.
4. You will undertake at least two (2) observed Mini-Clinical Evaluation Exercises to a satisfactory standard during the General Practice term. The Exercises will take the form of an observed clinical encounter with a patient you have interviewed and examined. The assessment form is provided on in your Learning Planner and must be filled in by your GP Teacher.
If you are unsure about these tasks, ask your GP if you can observe someone else doing one, and to show you a completed document. Ask your Supervisor for assistance in finding appropriate patients, and arrange to see the patient to complete the task. For a Mental Health Plan, more than one visit may be required, in which case the visit(s) prior to the visit on which the Plan is completed should be billed as item 36 (a mental health consultation > 20 minutes). The Mini-CEX’s should be assessed by your GP Supervisor. All completed learning planner tasks should be checked off by your GP tutor at your final tutorial.
Mini-Clinical Evaluation Exercise - mini-CEX (Pass/Fail)
You will undertake six Mini-Clinical Evaluation Exercises to a satisfactory standard during the semester (two each in Medicine, Surgery and General Practice). Of course, you may do more than six with your clinical teachers, but you are only required to hand in six. The Exercises must take the form of an observed clinical encounter with a patient.
It will be your responsibility to organize these exercises with appropriate clinical assessors, either at your clinical school or in your GP rotation. There are six copies of the form in your Learning Planner. Your Completed forms should be handed in to the Clinical School Office, and those exercises completed during your GP rotation should also be checked and signed off by your GP tutor.
OSCEs (Pass/Fail)
You will be examined on 10 OSCE stations, which will be undertaken in two sequences:
a) Five 10 minute ns conducted at a hospital other than your own clinical school.
b) Five 10 minute stations conducted at the Medical Building at the University in Parkville (except for RCS students, who will do these in Shepparton and Ballarat)
The location of the OSCE should not be taken as an indication of the content of the stations. You may have patients with surgical, medical and general practice problems in either set of OSCEs.
Student Supervisor mark (Pass/Fail)
As part of your GP placement, you are expected to meet at least weekly with your GP student supervisor and monitor your progress, using the Student Supervisor Formative Assessment guidelines in your student GP handbook. At the end of your rotation, the same form will be used by the Student Supervisor to assess your performance on the GP placement.
Refer to the Student Supervisor Mark section in the student GP handbook for clear guidelines as to the criteria to be assessed.
Rural Practice Accommodation Policy
Accommodation will be provided for rural placements and some financial help available for travel costs. Forms for reimbursement of these costs will be uploaded onto the LMS system prior to the commencement of the rotations.
If you have access to your own accommodation in a rural area and would be able to stay there during your GP rotation, please choose a practice which is near your accommodation and contact Ms Jenni Goodwin, Rural Student Placement Officer on 03 5823 4549 or goodwinj@unimelb.edu.au with details of this accommodation. It is very important that you also enter your alternate accommodation information on CATs when you enter your practice choice. Students who provide their own accommodation will receive financial assistance with travel costs.
A copy of the rural travel and accommodation policy is available from the student policies and procedure section of this website.