Medicine in Society Guide 2022/23 (copy)

5. Example timetable & learning activities

Generic structure: this is only meant as a suggested template for a day and tutors are of course free to design and run their teaching sessions however they wish to.  

 

9.30 – 10.30 

Intro - Outline topic/s and plan for the day 

Activity 1 – e.g. tutorial, which could include students presenting “homework” set at previous session 

 

10.30 – 11.45 

Activity 2 - e.g. students complete tasks in breakout groups; this could be self-directed tasks such as role-plays, case scenarios or research for debate 

 

(includes tea break) 

 

11.45 – 12.45 

Review activity 2 – students present and feedback on activity with group discussion. 

 

12.45 – 13.45 

Lunch break. 

 

13.45 – 14.45 

Activity 3 - e.g. face to face patient encounters; prepare questions and/or observations 

 

14.45 - 15.00  

Tea break 

 

15.00 – 16.00 

Review activity 3 

Debrief from day 

Plans/set homework for next session 

 

 

Examples of small group activities: 

  • Tutorials 
  • Student presentations 
  • Online research 
  • Debates 
  • Group discussions 
  • Quizzes/Polls 
  • Role-plays – either in small groups or as whole group with fish bowel set-up (consider specific observation tasks for feedback and discussion) 
  • Case-based discussions 
  • Patient encounters –expert patients with group/small groups, students interview patients in pairs/small groups, home visits 
  • Observing GPs and other healthcare professionals 
  • Interviewing members of primary care team 
  • Joining practice team, or wider MDT, meetings 
  • Reviewing recent journal articles and media publications, especially to discuss current 'hot topics' 
  • Community based activities –initial walkabout to create community profile and subsequent exploration of local area and its services to build on this e.g.  visiting/researching local facilities, attending local groups 

 

Please note this list is not exhaustive.  Ideally each day would include mix of activities, prioritising any patient encounters. There may be times when not all students from the group are completing the same activity, for example if 4 students are able to see patient on home visits, the other students could meet an expert patient, afterwards the whole group reconvenes to discuss their experiences and learning. 

There are more detailed suggestions for activities that are specific to each themed day and these are listed under each day, along with the suggested preparatory work for each day.