Before your first session
1
Confirm the practical details early
Address, parking, dress code, and who your named GP supervisor is. Placement sessions are often fixed to the same day and time each week and rescheduling may not be possible — if you're going to be away (illness, other commitment), let the practice and your medical school's clinical placement office know as early as you can, not on the day.
2
The basics of professionalism still apply
Turn up on time, dress as you would for a workplace, follow hand-hygiene practice like any other staff member, and treat everything you see and hear as confidential — patient details are not something to discuss outside the practice, even de-identified, except in the structured learning settings your course expects (like a case logbook or consolidation session).
3
Patients get a say in whether a student is present
Most practices ask the patient if they're comfortable with a student sitting in, and note it in the consultation record. If a patient says no, that's entirely their right — step out without taking it personally. It happens, and it isn't a reflection on you.
4
You're a learner here, not a patient
Most medical schools don't allow you to be treated as a patient — or have a family member or partner treated — at the practice where you're placed, to avoid any conflict of interest. If you need care while on placement, see your own GP elsewhere (except for genuine emergencies).
How placements typically progress
1
Early on: mostly observing
Watching consultations and talking through what you noticed afterwards with your supervisor. This is completely normal in the first sessions of any placement — you're building context before you're expected to do anything hands-on.
2
As you progress: supervised and hands-on
Taking a focused history or performing an examination while your supervisor is in the room, then discussing your findings and reasoning together straight afterwards.
3
Later placements: more independence
Seeing a patient on your own first, then presenting the history, findings, and your thinking to your supervisor before they see the patient themselves. This is genuinely one of the best ways to build clinical reasoning — if your placement offers it, make the most of it.
ℹ️ Pace varies a lot by year level and by university. Some courses have you taking independent histories in your first placement block; others build up to it gradually over two or more years. Check your own handbook for what's expected of you specifically, and ask your supervisor at the start what they'd like you to focus on.
Assessment terms decoded
Mini-CEX (Mini Clinical Evaluation Exercise) — a single observed encounter. Your supervisor watches you take a history, examine a patient, or explain something, then scores it and gives you feedback on the spot.
Observed Clinical Task — a specific skill (like measuring blood pressure, or taking a social history) that your supervisor watches and rates in the room, usually as part of building toward a Mini-CEX.
In-Training Assessment (ITA) / Supervisor Report — an end-of-placement summary of how you're tracking professionally, usually discussed face-to-face with your supervisor before it's submitted.
Case Logbook — your own record of interesting or instructive cases you've seen, written up de-identified, for reflection and for discussing back on campus.
Student Attendance Form — proof-of-attendance paperwork. This is what lets the practice claim its teaching payment — it isn't a mark of your performance.
POEM (Patient-Oriented Evidence that Matters) — a piece of evidence-based research, usually tied to a real patient you saw, that answers a genuine clinical question you or your supervisor raised. More common in later-year placements.
The exact names, forms, and weightings vary between universities — this glossary covers the common underlying ideas, not any one course's specific paperwork. Your own placement handbook is the authority on what's actually assessed.
Getting useful feedback
Feedback is a skill you're building, not just something done to you.
If it isn't offered, ask for it — "Could I get some feedback on that history I just took?" is a completely normal thing to say. Good feedback is specific, timely, and about what you did, not about you as a person; if it stings a little, that's normal — try to hear the specific, actionable part and let the rest go.
One well-known framework, Pendleton's rules, starts by asking the learner: what did you do well, and what would you do differently next time? Only after that does the supervisor add their own view. If your GP uses a different framework, that's fine too — the goal (a clear, specific takeaway you can act on) is the same either way.
Keep your own case log
This page is general orientation guidance for medical students on GP placements. It does not replace your university's official placement handbook, assessment requirements, or supervisor instructions — always follow those first.