Clinical Student Attachment - Year 4: GP/ED

There's not too much to talk about here, because it's just a 3 week component.

In Year 4, there are 2 weeks of GP (usually rural) and 3 ED shifts. This is a pass/fail component and pass is just attendance based.

I did ED before GP, and the 3 ED shifts are usually 2 day shifts, and 1 late shift (around 4pm to 10pm). You should be with a registrar for 2 shifts, and a nurse for 1 shift. I really enjoyed my ED run because I was able to see more patients with various presentations, and did a couple wound sutures, and plastering. It was a great opportunity to practice technical skills and to learn about common ED presentations and investigations for those.


During the GP run, you're placed in a practice and your day is usually 8am to 5pm. Sometimes, the GP may arrange for you to be attached to an optometrist, pharmacist, or ambulance but usually this occurs in 6th year, because the GP placement is 6 weeks.

I was placed at Waihi Beach, at the Waihi Beach Medical Centre. Your role as a student is to sit in on consultations with patients, and I went to marae clinics on Thursday morning, then the rest home with the GP. I felt that there was sufficient opportunity to practice technical skills such as suturing, applying fibreglass and plaster casts, give vaccinations, insert an indwelling catheter, and watch small skin excisions. Depending on your practice and the services they provide, you might be able to do bloods and other tasks.