Transitioning to a general practice placement for the foundation doctor

ABSTRACT

Time spent training in general practice can be highly beneficial for junior doctors irrespective of their future specialty choice. A large number of foundation year two doctors from the United Kingdom will undertake time in general practice as part of the compulsory Foundation Programme for new medical graduates following recommendations for all such rotations to include a community placement. For the majority, this will be their first time working in primary care post-qualification and this role will bring significant new clinical and professional challenges. In this article we give thirty points of advice for foundation doctors starting a general practice rotation and additional insight for their clinical supervisors, grouped into clinical, consultation related and general points, as informed by the authors’ experience and an electronic survey of foundation doctors and general practice trainers.

KEYWORDS:

• Foundation programme
• general practice
• primary care
• advice
• junior doctor

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

No funding was used for the preparation of this manuscript. JPR undertook a general practice rotation as part of the foundation programme and MS is a general practitioner and clinical supervisor for foundation doctors working in general practice.