Assisting the observation skills of medical students visiting general practices and patients in their homes

The article describes a frame of reference for assisting the observation skills of medical students. It is intended for use early in the student's study--for example in the third year curriculum. Its function is to help students give meaning to what they see and hear (1) when present during consultations between a general practitioner and his patients, (2) when discussing the reasons for particular decisions and activities in a general practitioner's handling of a case, and (3) when visiting a patient of a general practitioner at home. The programme of discussions, exercises, case presentations and video film which is used to teach the frame of reference is outlined. Criteria, which such a frame of reference evidently needs to satisfy if it is to function as intended, are proposed. These are derived from the opinions of third year medical students who have used the frame of reference on visits to a practice and who were later invited to critique its usefulness.