Within the Undergraduate Medical Degree, members of the Department of Public Health and Primary Care lead all components of the clinical strand within the first year, including courses covering the Foundations of Evidence-Based Practice, the Social and Ethical Context of Health and Illness and Preparing for Patients A, the first contact medical students have with patients within the course. We also deliver an optional course on Integrated Biomedical Problem Solving and a minor module in Applied Clinical Research within the Part II Biological and Biomedical Sciences course in year 3. Within the clinical component of the course, we lead all the teaching for three of the six integrated curricular themes that run throughout the three years (Professional Skills, Palliative Care, and Improving Health) as well as all specialty teaching for General Practice and training on research methods. Together, this equates to approximately 20% of the clinical medical course and includes, for example, coordinating over 3000 student placements within 183 GP surgeries across the Eastern region each year. We also run two optional extra-curricular groups to support and encourage research and teaching amongst medical students: the Medical Student Systematic Review Group and the Public Health Student Medical Educators Programme.
Foundations of Evidence-Based Practice (FEBP)
The FEBP course is a core component of the first year undergraduate course for both medical and veterinary students and for students on the Cambridge Graduate Medical Course. Approximately 370 students complete the course each year.
As the first, and only core, course in which students learn the fundamental principles underlying epidemiology and clinical research methods, the course is central to ensuring that all students graduating from Cambridge have an understanding of evidence-based practice and the core knowledge and skills to meet the GMC Outcomes for Graduates Clinical research and scholarship. Specifically, the course provides students with an understanding of the role of research methods in generating clinical knowledge, how to critique the design and analysis of a range of research literature, and how to appropriately apply research findings to clinical practice.
Social & Ethical Context of Health and Illness (SECHI)
The SECHI course is a core component of the first year undergraduate course for medical students and for students on the Cambridge Graduate Medical Course. Approximately 330 students complete the course each year. The objectives of the course map to the GMC Outcomes for Graduates for Applying Social Science Principles, Legal Responsibilities and components of the Professional and Ethical Responsibilities domain.
Preparing for Patients A (PfPA)
The PfPA course is now an established component of the undergraduate medical curriculum designed to help first year pre-clinical medical students take their first steps in developing clinical communication skills. The course also enables students to experience and reflect on the themes established within the Social and Ethical Context of Health and Illness (SECHI) course and provides a link between core science learning and clinical practice.
Integrated Biomedical Problem Solving (IBiPS)
The Integrated Biomedical Problem Solving (IBiPS) course is an optional teaching programme taught by General Practitioner facilitators trained by the General Practice Education Group (GPEG). Introduced in 2019, the course offers students the opportunity to work with patient case studies that provide integration of basic science across the existing preclinical courses as well as clinical contextualisation of their studies. The nature of the course also provides students with a safe environment to develop problem-solving skills and early contact with General Practitioners provides students with exposure to expert generalism.
Biological and Biomedical Sciences Minor Module in Applied Clinical Research
Re-launched in 2020, this Applied Clinical Research course is available to up to nine third-year Medical, Veterinary and Natural Sciences students as a 'minor' module within the Biological and Biomedical Sciences course each year. It builds on the Foundations of Evidence Based Practice (FEBP) course taken by Medical and Veterinary students in the first year and offers students the opportunity to gain additional knowledge, skills and practical experience to understand the importance and challenges of applied clinical research.
Improving Health
The Improving Health course is a core component of the medical course. It is one of six cross-cutting themes running throughout the three years of the clinical course and taught to all clinical medical students across both the standard course and graduate course.
Professional Responsibilities Course (PRC)
The PRC course is a core component of the clinical course. Led by the Medical Professionalism Education Group (MPEG), the aim of the course is to support medical students' personal and professional development, to enable them to demonstrate trustworthiness and to meet the Professional Values and Behaviours components of the GMC Outcomes for Graduates.
Palliative Care Teaching
The Palliative care teaching is delivered by the Palliative Care Medical Education Group (PalliMEG) and forms a core longitudinal theme throughout the three years of the clinical course, with some additional input into the pre-clinical course. A key premise of the course is that palliative care is 'everyone's business'. In line with this, the course aims to equip all students with the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to provide outstanding palliative care for their patients throughout their careers, whatever their role or specialty.
General Practice Teaching
Led by the General Practice Education Group (GPEG), the General Practice teaching programmes comprise around 20% of the clinical component of the medical course. They consist of work-based learning in GP surgeries across the Eastern region and small group teaching in the form of clinical seminars, based at the Clinical School on the Addenbrooke's site or provided remotely. GPEG also deliver a small number of large group lectures to whole year groups in collaboration with other departments. Find out more about the speciality here.
Student Selected Components (SSCs)
SSCs are compulsory six-week placements within the clinical school curriculum that allow students in the fourth year of the medical course to study in greater depth an area of their choosing that is outside, but which complements the core curriculum. Through these placements it is hoped that students develop self-directed learning skills and increase their confidence in their own skills and abilities. The placements are also an opportunity for students to explore potential career paths in more detail than is possible in the core curriculum.
The Medical Student Systematic Review Group (MSSRG)
The MSSRG is an optional course offered to all medical students in years 4-6 of the clinical course. Recognising that being able to identify relevant literature and critically appraise findings are key skills for all future doctors and being able to conduct a systematic review is also a core skill for those interested in pursuing an academic clinical career path, the group provides students with six 1-hour sessions covering basic systematic review methods and opportunities to gain practical experience of systematic reviews.
Public Health Student Medical Educator Programme
Started in 2022 in response to student enthusiasm for opportunities to engage with teaching and education-related research, the Public Health Student Medical Educator programme aims to create a base for interested students, supporting learner-directed interpretation of the curriculum through students working together with other students and members of the PHEG faculty. The programme also aims to give the students opportunities to develop questions, thoughts, and papers within these areas and reflect on career pathways, seeking to contribute to capacity building for future doctors with interests in medical education and public/global/planetary health.