In addition to sessions in the Clinical Skills Education Centre (CSEC), first- and second-year students are assigned in small groups to ‘Clinical Experience’ sessions which are led by GP and Hospital tutors one afternoon each week.

The primary objective of this Clinical Experience course is to enthuse students in the art of medicine and provide opportunity for real patient encounters so that they can practise their Clinical skills whilst linking in remotely, or whilst on the hospital ward or in the General Practice setting.  

Clinical skills experience timetable year 1 and 2 for 2022-23

You can watch the Year 2 Tutor information meeting at the link below

Year 2 Autumn clinical skills experience tutor meeting

Year 1 Spring

Teachers have 6 weeks of Clinical Experience teaching (Tuesday or Friday). The main focus is on history taking practise with patients who have Respiratory, Cardiovascular or musculoskeletal complaints. Each student attends 3 teaching sessions, so teachers deliver the same topic for 2 weeks and have 2 groups of students. This teaching is delivered via Zoom rather than in-practice.  

Year 2 Autumn

Students have 9 weeks of Clinical Experience teaching (Monday or Thursday) and since the Covid-19 outbreak this has been delivered via zoom and focuses on clinical skills relating to Gastroenterology, Endocrine & Neurological systems. It is hoped that this will return to face to face delivery in Autumn 2023. 

Year 2 Spring 

Teachers have 8 weeks of Clinical Experience teaching (Monday or Thursday).  Students will each attend 4 face-to-face teaching sessions in small groups of 3-4 students. They will value spending time with real patients, practising and integrating all the clinical skills that they have learned in the first 2 years of this course as they prepare for their OSCE (Objective Structured Clinical Examination). 

Note that when the above Clinical Experience teaching is delivered face to face (Year 2 Spring 2023, and all year 2 teaching thereafter), the tutor’s practice will need to be within an acceptable travel distance of the university (usually within a 15 mile radius of QUB campus) or on a direct public transport route.  

If you are taking students for the first time, here are a few additional points to consider: 

• Sessions are timetabled between 2-5pm 
• Supportive training for this teaching will be provided 
• Teaching Resources are available on the Medical Education Portal  
• Teaching in Clinical Experience sessions should closely reflect what has been taught in CSEC and a teacher Guideline is provided for reference. 
• Direct Observation of Clinical Skills ( DOCS)  is a formative feedback exercise that should be completed for each student during the programme of teaching ( full details will be provided at training and via the portal) 
• The students are also undertaking Family Attachment and Clinical  
  Communication skills tutorials. 

If you would like further information or guidance please contact diane.wilson@qub.ac.uk OR request a phonecall by contacting GPadmin@qub.ac.uk