The Cambridge Graduate course in medicine started taking students in 2001. Primary care teaching has been a very important element of the course from the outset and has traditionally been highly valued by the students. The following information provides an overview of the course and what students should cover during their time in general practice.
This course is an accelerated course completed in 4 rather than 6 years.
Core Clinical Practice (Years 1 & 2)
By the end of the second year the students will have completed the equivalent core science and clinical exposure as year 4 standard course students. The students have three eight week terms each academic year and sit the same core science examinations in the summer as the standard course students. They have 5 “Clinical Skills” blocks which occur during the long holidays at Christmas, Easter and in the summer each year. During much of this time they are based at the West Suffolk Hospital, engaged in a mix of hospital based clinical activity and teaching, ending with a week in primary care. Students have regular clinical based seminars/tutorials with their college clinical tutors on a weekly basis during term time. The CGCM students do not do the Preparing for Patients course because they have clinical exposure much earlier in both primary and secondary care, within 8 weeks of starting their course.
Specialist Clinical Practice (Year 3)
Graduate course students join the standard course students to learn about different specialties. Students attend the same GP practice for two weeks, three times over the year.
- Specialist medicine
- Specialist Surgery
- Mental health and neurosciences
Students will have patients allocated to them to follow through the year (Personal Patient Portfolio) and will carry out a quality improvement project (e.g. an audit) within their host practice
Applied Clinical Practice (Year 4)
The final year students build on the core learning and clinical experiences from the previous years and there are regular opportunities (through R&I weeks) to embed core learning, linked with their clinical experiences.
Students spend 6 weeks in a general practice, in pairs, working alongside health care professionals, becoming apprentice members of the practice team. Students have their own surgeries booked which are supervised by a GP and will take histories, use clinical reasoning skills, consider diagnoses and develop management plans.
By the end of the Final Year ‘Preparation for Practice’ course, students will have developed the consultation, clinical management, diagnostic judgement and professional skills required for graduation. Students will have responsibility for patient care under close supervision in a variety of clinical environments.
More information about this course
Dr Jonathan Ferdinand, GP Co-ordinator, Cambridge Graduate Course in Medicine
COURSE MATERIALS: held on the Clinical School’s virtual learning environment