Medical student rotation tips
Whether you’re a medical student on your community placement, or a prevocational doctor on a PGPPP rotation, it’s important you maximise your GP experience. To help you do this we have provided some tips below:
Be an active learner
- During consultations/shadowing, write down questions and the possible diagnosis
- Ask questions – why things were done a certain way, etc
Show genuine interest in the practice
- Get to know practice staff, including the practice manager, practice nurse, allied health professionals, etc
- Look for opportunities to learn/shadow from these staff
- Ask to accompany your supervisor or other staff on home visits, nursing home visits or other appointments
Be considerate
- Be flexible – think about what you would like to see/do but understand any limitations and practice requirements
- Consider your supervisor (they might need a break now and then)
- Be aware of your university expectations and requirements
Resources for your placement
Useful resources
There are a number of resources which you might find useful to access during your community placement:
- RACGP Online Guidelines: www.racgp.org.au
- RACGP “Red Book” – guidelines on preventative activities in general practice: www.racgp.org.au
- Diabetes Management in General Practice: www.racgp.org.au
- Cochrane Library
- Therapeutic Guidelines (available through most university libraries)
- MIMS Online (available through most university libraries)
- Murtagh’s General Practice
- Patient Education (Murtagh)
- Practice Tips Online (Murtagh)
- Textbook of Family Medicine (McWhinney and Freeman)
- BMJ Best Practice (evidence based resource from UK – iPhone / Smartphone mobile website available on signing up): www.bestpractice.bmj.com