GPs from across the north-east are helping to support the next generation of doctors at the University of Aberdeen.
They have returned to the classroom as part-time tutors to provide interactive, immersive clinical training to students - roles taken on in addition to their commitments at their practices.
To help deliver the increased GP teaching at the University, ten new GP tutors have joined the 12 already supporting students on the medicine degree course as student numbers have swelled. In the third-year cohort which undertakes training in General Practice, student numbers have risen from 217 two years ago to 279 for the current academic year.
The tutors will support the delivery of a more experiential learning style as part of a new curriculum introduced in 2022 designed to support students in readiness for their clinical placements in Year 4.
The teaching sessions involve active participation from students, including role play, case-based discussions, practicing writing referral letters or interpreting blood results, and video consulting with real patients.
Feedback from medical students has been positive. One previous third-year student said: “It has been one of my favourite aspects of Y3 and given me a great insight to GP world, so much so that now it is a real consideration in my future career.” Another added: “GP teaching this year was amazing and it provided interactive, diverse teaching opportunities that catered to a variety of learners and I can only commend the team for their work. Truly amazing!”
GP tutors have also indicated the benefits of taking on the role with a tutor who has taught since 2022 saying: “In order to facilitate training of GPs of the future - ones who actually want to be GPs - we need to expose students to teaching from those who have genuine, day-to-day experience of the clinical work. It allows the sessions to be engaging and realistic, gives the students an idea of how things actually work in practice and gives us an opportunity to inspire future GPs.”
Dr Naomi Dow, GP and Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Aberdeen said: “Despite the pressure on GPs locally and nationally, we have filled all positions, and now have a team of enthusiastic GPs ready to teach our large year group of 279 students.
“Aberdeen medical students now have far more exposure to General Practice than they did even five years ago and we hope this will encourage more students into the field and provide them with a wider range of options when it comes to choosing their clinical specialisms.”