In conjunction with the UEA School of Medicine the practice takes part in the training of medical students as they engage in a medical curriculum which is now well established and relies greatly upon experience gained from within general practice. This collaboration began in 2006 and the practice is now in its eighth year of hosting first year students.
The teaching year begins in the autumn and students come to us one day per week during term time. Teaching is provided by Dr Jo FitzGerald and Dr Emily Cary and Dr Susanne Ahlund.
The teaching day, which is always Thursday, begins with the students arriving by minibus from the UEA campus at around 09:30. The first session of the morning is spent in pairs sitting in with doctors, nurses or the pharmacist, observing how they interact with patients and witnessing life at “the sharp end” of General Practice.
The students may then spend time visiting their allocated patients, being taught in tutorials or observing sessions with other health care professionals like the physiotherapist or midwife.
Last year we took the students on a number of visits. They especially enjoyed the trips to the undertaker and the Occupational Health Department at Bernard Matthews. After a closing discussion the students leave at 17:00.
You may be asked if you would be happy for your doctor or nurse to be accompanied by some students (never more than two at a time) or if you wouldn’t mind speaking to and being examined by them. You can of course decline. Patients who have already done so have found the experience very rewarding and have gained as much as the students themselve