MY FIRST GP PLACEMENT AS A MED STUDENT

My I’ve been to GP surgeries before as part of my work experience, but today I had my first placement through medical school. I’ve only just started my course so I still don’t have the knowledge to understand all the illnesses that the patients presented with, but I thought it would still be interesting to take some time to reflect on how different or similar this GP visit was to previous ones I’ve had. And also think about some of the things I may have learnt or gained an insight of from this visit…

This visit was set out in a way so both me and my clinical partner were able to observe the consultations of a GP during the morning. Before each patient came in the doctor explained their background to us, we then watched the consultations and then discussed what we had seen.

Every single time I visit a GP surgery I am again amazed by the huge variety of differing problems and issues patients present with. It’s a huge misconception to regard General Practice as being boring or monotonous. It is probably one of the most varied fields within Medicine! Just this one morning I was able to see 6 completely different cases all with their own very specific personal and medical backgrounds. It’s incredible that if a doctor asks the correct questions and has the neccessary skills, just a short 10 minute appointment is able to provide such a great insight into each patient’s life and is able to open many avenues as to how their particular problem/s can potentially be solved.

There were many things that I did notice from today’s snapshot of General Practice. First of all, all of the patients that we saw today presented with an array of many complex problems. The best outcome for the patient essentially arises from a careful and considered balance of the risks.

It was also interesting to see the doctor communicating the possible risks of a joint injection, as the perception and communication of risk just happens to be part of my PBL case this week!