How to get the most out of Primary Care Placements

I spent 10 weeks in a small GP practise. Primary Care is not something I would like to go into, but in medical school you sometimes have to do things that do not interest you.

1. Do a bit of research before hand.
Find out the demographics of the catchment area. All patients are individuals, but I fell I benefited greatly by finding out the following
-Age distribution-The place I was located was a popular retirement area,and there for most of the patients I saw where over 65.
-What culture is most prevalent- Different cultures have different attitudes to health care,and you may need to be aware of this if
-Location-being late for appointments is never cool. My placement was in the middle of nowhere with only hourly buses. Even the patients had difficulty getting to their practise, so they would only come to the surgery if very ill, and returning to collect prescriptions was a no-no

2.Plan how to achieve the learning outcomes
At my medical school we have books that need to be signed off. If the doctor you are shadowing is not used to having medical students you may need to tell them this.Some doctors like signing things off as they are completed, whilst others prefer to sign things off on the last day Unless its stated in your book, always ask.As a student you must take responsibility for your learning.

3.Try to make what ever you are doing relevant to your studies.
As you progress with your course the ability to link things together will be invaluable.Taking endless blood pressures day in and day out can get boring and tedious. To make it slightly more bearable, I decided to teach myself about the drugs used to treat blood pressure.This tied in with my pharmacology module.
Last year on the wards, I took an interest in patient nutrition as it tied in with my module on human nutrition.

4.Ask all the time
Most people want to help you learn. If you want to know more about something just ask a staff member when they don't seem to busy.
Sometimes doctors forget how little students know, so they give incomplete instructions.If you do not understand what to do it is better to ask a question,than to make a mistake

5. Try to reflect regularly during your placement.
I know reflection is a word that medical students are not fond of. I used to think reflection is a waste of time, but I now find it very valuable.For the foreseeable future reflective writing will be part of life, so you may as well get used to it.
What you write does not have to be detailed, its more important that you do something.  If you notice something that could have been better, or you witness someone doing something really well, try to write 150 words or more about it.