Phase IV General Practice/Mental Health Course

Core Teaching

All students will spend the first week of the course involved in 'core teaching'. Nine half-day sessions will be delivered by tutors from both general practice and mental health. The programme is designed to address core clinical issues relevant to both specialties. Clinical issues will be explored in a series of five clinical vignettes, each lasting a half day. For these, the students will be divided into five small groups, each lead by a tutor from the relevant disciplines. Students will follow an individual 'case' over time, and will have the opportunity to take part in role play exercises and group discussion. The remaining elements of the core teaching programme will include a tutorial on the management of violence, a session designed to look at issues of stress and safety at work for doctors, and information and discussion on careers in general practice and psychiatry.

Attendance at all sessions is compulsory and a register will be taken.

Phase IV - Mini-CEX Assessment

Assessment during Phase IV consist of min-CEX and formative assessments during clinical attachments and the medical elective course. There will be an exit clinical degree summative examination at the end of Phase IV. It is your responsibility to make sure you complete two mini-CEX's per block as well as have an end of block assessment and submit these as indicated in the mini-CEX books. If these forms are not submitted on time your final mark will be affected.

Two or more formative assessments will take place during your clinical attachment. The precise nature of your assessment may differ between attachments, (variations on mini-CEX) but will provide you with feedback on your attitudes, knowledge and clinical skills.

Also within each block you will have two mini-CEX assessments as outlined below. These will contribute towards your summative assessment.

Degree assessments

Elective project

The elective project is a degree assessment, therefore you must obtain a pass in the same way as all other final degree assessment. You must ensure that your report is handed in by the required date for marking. There are graded penalties for late submission. You should note that a report which would normally attract a high score on the CAS scale will not achieve a pass mark if its submission has been very late.

Direct observation of doctor/patient interactions: the mini-CEX (Clinical Evaluation Exercise).

What is the Mini-CEX?

The mini-CEX is designed to provide feedback on skills essential to the provision of good clinical care by observing you during a clinical encounter. Strengths, areas for development and agreed action points should be identified following each min-CEX. You will be provided with a booklet of mini-CEX forms which should be used for your assessments.

When will I have my mini-CEX

Your educational supervisors are aware that you will be having these assessments, and that they contribute to your final degree mark. You should have two mimi-CEX assessments during each block. You should agree with your educational supervisor at the beginning of the block when and where these should occur. This will be either with themselves or with a senior member of staff on the same ward (ie another consultant or an SPR/Staff Grade). You should take your book of marking forms with you: one copy should be returned by you as indicated, while you should keep the second copy to help you improve your performance. The assessor will take you to a patient and ask you to take a focused history and perform a relevant examination. You may then be asked about areas of diagnosis and management. Each interaction will vary depending on the setting and the patients.

This is your responsibility. If you have any problems with organising this, let Fiona Petrie f.petrie@abdn.ac.uk know as soon as possible, and certainly before the fifth week of the block. If these two assessments per block do not occur, your final mark for Phase IV will be affected.

Students in Aberdeen:

All mini-CEX form should be submitted to:

Ms Elinor Sutherland, Room 2:039, Polwarth Building, Foresterhill, Aberdeen, AB25 2ZD. Email: e.sutherland @abdn.ac.uk/Tel: 01224 559650

In Phase IV, it is expected that you will use every opportunity, to further improve your skills through interactions with patients on a daily basis. By the end of Phase IV, your techniques of history taking and examination and communication with patients should be of a standard comparable to that of a foundation doctor. Remember that these skills will be an important component of the final examination.

The mark for the mini-CEX contributes 20% to the final mark for Phase IV.

Phase IV Reflective Log Diary

In GP and Mental Health, assessments will be made by a structured reflective log diary. This will replace the two case histories.

A minimum of 30 contacts are required throughout the block. Students are expected to personally interview each patient detailed in the diary.

Your Consultant supervisor will meet with you each week and you will be expected to bring your diary to these sessions to allow you to discuss every patient that you have included in the diary. Diaries should be legibly hand-written.

Students retain their diary until they are reassured they have received a satisfactory mark.