What is Year 1+2 Family Medicine?

Family Medicine provides students early clinical contact with patients and a glimpse into the busy and dynamic world of Primary Care. It is a formative learning experience for students who often reflect that it helps them to see ‘patients as people’ and enjoy what they consider to be ‘real life’ medicine amongst their more classroom based teaching. Family Medicine was an early adopter of the expansion of time that Queen’s University Belfast medical students spend learning in General Practice, their early taster of connected Primary Care based placements spanning the five-year curriculum.

What will it involve for me as a tutor?

GP tutors can take groups of Y1 or Y2 students, many choose to take both! In Y1, Family Attachment, GP tutors are allocated groups of approx. 8 students. The GP tutor matches the students in pairs to patient/families in their practice whom the students make contact with through the year. The GP tutor facilitates five afternoon tutorials through the year to support students’ learning including an opportunity for students to see their patients’ notes (with consent). In Y2, General Practice Experience, GP tutors are allocated groups of approx. 8 students. The GP tutor facilitates five afternoon tutorials through the year where students can learn about the world of General Practice through contact with patients and members of the Primary Care Team. Student highly value opportunities to consult with patients, often for the first time.

Recent tutor feedback

“Students enjoy hearing about daily life in a busy general practice and we discussed many patients dilemmas and the subsequent challenges .Having direct patient contact and taking a history and examination was the icing on the cake for the students.“

“The students just love meeting patients face-to-face. The patients love meeting them too. it's great to hear the students reflecting on their experiences .”

“This is a very worthwhile module in which I feel the students gain great insight into general practice and a relaxed environment for them to grow their communication skills during their visits with patients.“

“On a personal level I also appreciated getting to know all the students.”

Family Medicine Tutor & Student Guides Year 1s and 2, 2024-5.

The slides from our tutor information session on Wednesday 11th September are available here Family Medicine Tutors Meeting 11/09/24

Year 2 Resources

The Essence of General Practice 24/25 presentation is below

The Essence of General Practice 2425 Session

Home Visiting Guidance for practices PDF

Year 1 Resources

Obtaining consent from patients

You will find below videos relevant to this curriculum module

1. Preparation for Early Clinical Contact
2. Cultural Humility
3. Family Medicine feedback from previous QUB medical students

If you need the password to access the videos (it is the same password for GPNI videos), please email gpadmin@qub.ac.uk.