Introduction to Clinical Medicine in Southampton

Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcomes

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Make accurate observations of clinical phenomena
• Manage your transfer to learning in the UK, managing life skills, and establishing a balanced range of activities outside your clinical work
• Take responsibility for your own learning and your continuing professional development
• Describe the scientific and physiological framework underlying the common disorders and the rationale for treatment
• Gain a basic understanding of the National Health Service (NHS) of the NHS, including the relationships between different providers of care and the nature of how clinical guidelines are developed
• Demonstrate an ability to take a medication history, ensuring you are confident with the names of the drugs used in the UK and apply understanding of pharmacological principles to the role of medication on the presentation and management of patients
• Develop insight into your learning needs in the professional workplace and recognise the need for support and guidance in managing challenging situations; and reflect on your own learning style and how it may need to be adapted to the clinical environment
• Demonstrate awareness of professional responsibility both to patients and to members of the multi-professional team and to student colleagues and reflect on how poor performance or poor professional behaviour should be addressed
• Demonstrate an understanding of different team roles in multi-professional settings and the contribution of all members of the team to patient safety and high quality care.
• Consider the range of investigations for clinical cases commonly used in UK practice
• Know where and how to seek help from teachers and supervisors and know where and how to seek advice for your personal health needs
• Apply findings from the literature to answer questions raised by specific clinical problems
• Establish a relationship with a patient, explore and acknowledge their concerns
• Describe and discuss proven methods of how clinical effectiveness and care can be improved and measured
• Demonstrate understanding of the GMC’s ethical guidance and standards in Good Medical Practice, recognise the central responsibility of the care of the patient; and demonstrate understanding of all the elements of behaviour expected of doctors in the NHS.
• Learn how to conduct critical appraisal of the medical and scientific literature by undertaking a patient based literature review
• To understand the cultural differences in the UK and how they relate to health for example the place of alcohol in UK society
• Demonstrate an ability to take a focused and comprehensive history from a wide range of patients
• Understand the knowledge, skills and tools that enable information to be collected, managed, used and shared to support the delivery of healthcare and be confident in applying health informatics to medical practice such as using computers in healthcare
• Examine and discuss how research questions and studies can improve individual and /or population healthcare
• Show an understanding of the duties of confidentiality in your contact with colleagues and patients, data protection legislation in the NHS and codes of practice relating to dealing with information
• Demonstrate the skill of reflection on your actions and how you use that to enhance your learning in the different setting of the NHS

This module will be undertaken over a 12-week period when transfer students first arrive in Southampton. Transfer students will undertake structured placements in Hospital and Primary care supplemented by communication skills sessions and tutorials covering a wide range of topics in clinical medicine. Academic mentoring will be provided by the module leads.

The module will commence with a week of orientation and introduction to Southampton; during which students will be allocated to groups of 5-6 students. This will enable them to discuss prior assumptions about the NHS and expectations of their programme in Southampton. It is hoped that peer involvement/mentorship by transfer students from later years will be a feature of the first few weeks. There will be larger group teaching on clinical topics, the fundamentals of medical research, translational medicine, supplemented by group work examining a range of research papers and their implications for practice – this is referred to as Evidence Based Medicine. There will be simulation and clinical skills teaching where students will be taught the fundamentals of clinical examination which will inform requirements for both, Assessment of Clinical Competence (ACC) and Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE). Students will undertake basic life support training. Students will receive training on Equality and Diversity in Practice through Blackboard online training. Students will undertake basic training as a Healthcare Support Worker (HCSW) after which they will be placed in clinical settings to experience working as a member of a multidisciplinary team, communicating with patients and carers in a range of settings.

Other hospital-based sessions will take place at the Southampton General Hospital where students are encouraged to work in pairs with a clinical tutor. Students will present cases to their clinical tutor and their group which will form the basis of case-based discussions. During hospital placements, there will be weekly tutorials where students will be asked to present cases to the rest of the group, obtain feedback and reflect on their performance. GP based sessions will take place in designated primary medical practices close to Southampton. Students will be placed in the GP surgeries 4 days a week. Teaching will be facilitated by GPs in small group settings and will take the form of various patient-based experiences, with some elements of structured teaching. Students will undertake a short formative patient-based literature review – this will be based on a patient they have seen on their HCSW, GP or hospital-based placements.

Formative

This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.

Management of transition

• Assessment Type: Formative
• Feedback:
• Final Assessment: No
• Group Work: No
• Percentage contribution: 25%

Hospital and GP assessment

• Assessment Type: Formative
• Feedback:
• Final Assessment: No
• Group Work: No
• Percentage contribution: 25%

Professionalism

• Assessment Type: Formative
• Feedback:
• Final Assessment: No
• Group Work: No
• Percentage contribution: 25%

Reflective blog review

• Assessment Type: Formative
• Feedback:
• Final Assessment: No
• Group Work: No
• Percentage contribution: 25%

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.