This page provides an overview of resources for GPs teaching medicine to medical students at the University of Cambridge.
Join our network of GP tutors who teach medical students across all stages of the General Practice course at the University of Cambridge Clinical School.
There are different levels of commitment in terms of teaching time.
Teaching in GP can add substantial budget, provide additional interest to GPs in a practice and is a vital component in the training of our future doctors.
Contact GPEG for more information: gpeg@medschl.cam.ac.uk
About GP teaching at the University of Cambridge
The Cambridge GP teaching is designed to allow:
- Small group practice based experiential learning,
- GP tutors to continue contributing to clinical work whilst teaching,
- Support for teachers via course development meetings, on-line resources, practice visits and the Cambridge Integrated Foundation in Medical Education (IFME) course,
- Reimbursement for backfill required to cover GP teaching and administrative support time.
- Longitudinal placements – you get to know a group of students over a period of time
- Residential placements – by reimbursement for student accommodation and travel (for practices >1hr commute by public transport), we are able to utilise practices away from Cambridge
Who can teach on the primary care course?
Our requirements for teaching practices are not onerous. Practices should have:
- Enthusiastic GP teachers and administrators to support for teaching across the practice
- Enough space (usually one spare consulting room is adequate per pair of students)
In order to ensure excellence for our students, we work with our GP tutors and their host practices so that they all demonstrate a clearly defined set of Teacher and Practice Standards (available on further request). Our Standards are explicitly related to those laid down by the Eastern Deanery for GP registrar training – which makes accreditation as simple as possible and avoids duplication for those practices already delivering registrar teaching. Before you begin teaching, we’ll discuss our teaching requirements, how we can support you and ensure that your practice is able to meet our standards.
Support for GP tutors
GP TUTOR CONFERENCE: This keeps you up to date with the curriculum, delivers medical education content and keeps you in touch with the community of fellow GP Tutors.
INFORMATION ON SSCs: Guidance for GP Tutors who would like to offer SSCs (Student Selected Components) – we brief interested tutors each year and can connect you with a member of our team as needed.
INTEGRATED FOUNDATION OF MEDICAL EDUCATION (IFME): Although formal medical education training isn’t a requirement to teach our students, the Integrated Foundations of Medical Education teaching programme will enable you to develop your teaching skills, learn how to deliver feedback to students and develop as a teacher. Free for our GP tutors. This modular course is designed for clinicians and usually takes 6-9 months to complete. Request access by emailing our team if you are a prospective GP tutor.
POSTGRADUATE CERTIFICATE IN MEDED: Designed collaboratively by the University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education and the University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine’s Clinical Deanery. This Postgraduate Certificate is a one-year, part-time Master’s-level programme resulting in 60 FHEQ Level-7 credits and the University of Cambridge award. See more
ALL COURSE RESOURCES: Held on the University’s MedED website (Virtual Learning Environment) for students and Clinical School teaching staff. Access on request.
If you are a prospective GP tutor and don’t yet have a MedEd password, contact GPEG by email [gpeg@medschl.cam.ac.uk] and we’ll provide the information you need.
Learning about general practice and primary care
All our Cambridge students attend general practice placements and study topics relevant to primary care, throughout their three years at the Clinical School, whatever their final career destination. Our GP tutors recognise that learning on the Primary Care Course is relevant both within and beyond the primary care context. The course involves learning about the specialty of primary care, about clinical medicine as a whole, about organisation and teamworking, about professional relationships and about a clinical method which encompasses communication skills and respect for patients – Clinical and Communication Skills.
Students, whether they go for a career in primary care, academic primary care or elsewhere, will find our GP course a keystone for their overall professional development. Moreover, all doctors interact with primary care in many different ways and all their patients will live in a community. So helping our students to develop a feel for the community that they will serve and the factors that affect health and disease in the community is a crucial part of our role”.
“Equally, those students who do choose primary care should be able to look back on their experiences with us as an engaging and solid introduction to their chosen specialism. So our role as GP Tutors is to offer students the best possible opportunities for learning in primary care and to guide students in making the most of them.”
Want to be a GP tutor? Take action now
Are you keen to develop your interest in medical education?
Are you in practice as a GP in the East of England region?
Would you and your practice colleagues enjoy providing students with formative clinical experience that could shape their career decisions and inspire them to become GPs of the future?
We are expanding our team of GP Tutors and are keen to hear from you if you are interested in becoming a GP tutor with us.
Contact GPEG for more information: gpeg@medschl.cam.ac.uk