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School of Medicine, Pharmacy and Health

Medicine in the Community/Personal and Professional Development

“I enjoy MiC/PPD the most because of the small tutorial group. Here we have been able to share fears, beliefs, hopes and dreams, relating to aspects of being a doctor and life in general...”

Previous Stage 1 Student

This strand runs throughout the 2 years of Phase 1 medicine. Its focus is upon your development as a professional in the changing world of medicine. You will be given the opportunity to develop your communication skills and professional values whilst gaining a broader understanding of the historical, social, cultural and environmental context within which medicine is practiced. It will ask such questions as:

  • Why is disease not randomly distributed throughout the population?
  • What do we mean by ‘disability'?
  • What is alternative medicine?
  • How does an awareness of family types enable me to communicate more effectively with patients?
  • What sort of relationship should exist between patient and practitioner?
  • What ethical principles underpin the practice of medicine?
  • How can I improve my skills when interviewing a patient?

Central to the development of your professionalism and understanding of these broader issues are the Family Project, the Patient Study and the Community Placement.

Learning and Teaching Methods

In MiC/PPD you will experience lectures and participate in small group teaching sessions.

“I quite liked our tutorials that we get for MiC and PPD ‘cos we always have a good chat. We had a great group this year and everyone had a really good input - there was not someone who would be more dominant or people who would tend to shy away from issues. We all got stuck in and we all had a good chat about lots of different, like a range of issues, there was ethical issues and "What would you do in this circumstance as a doctor?" We had some great discussions so that was a lot of fun and then you get the input from your tutor, your clinical tutor, who obviously has had the experience and then you sort of get a really good rounded view on some of the ideas that we’re learning in that strand so I really enjoyed that.”

Tom Moullali, Stage 1

Themes 

The MiC/PPD Strand provides teaching an experiences which feed into eight themes:

  1. Critical thinking and reflection
  2. Ethics
  3. Evidence in practice
  4. Epidemiology and public health
  5. Self-care
  6. Doctor-patient communication
  7. The clinical context of medicine
  8. The social context of medicine

MiC/PPD Staff

Dr Cathy Williamson is the overall PPD strand leader and PPD Year 2 Coordinator, Dr Judith Donkin is the PPD Year 1 Coordinator  and Dr Simon Forrest is the MiC Teaching Fellow and MiC Strand Leader.  Ms Karen Waller is the Teaching and Placement co-ordinator for MiC/PPD and Professor Jane Macnaugton is Strand Adviser. Small group sessions are facilitated by MiC tutors, with expertise in the social sciences, and PPD tutors, who are practising clinicians.