Student Support and Professionalism

Most students will have good and bad days, but overall they will manage the clinical attachment and undertake  the requirements e.g. CbDs etc.  Students may have many different problems including academic progress, ill health, financial problems, relationship problems.  

The following are ‘red flags’ for a student who may be struggling:  

• Persistently late arrival or early departure/missing teaching sessions  
• Failing to engage with learning opportunities offered  
• Failing to engage with e portfolio requirements  
• Poor performance in basic skills/knowledge eg clinical skills  
• Signs of depression, eg unkempt appearance, poor eye contact, tearful.

WMS students undertake an accelerated training programme with little time for rest. To support their wellbeing, each student is allowed and encouraged to take 5 additional days of leave during each academic year, in addition to the Medical School holidays.

Leave is allowed for the following reasons:

• Wellbeing/rest days
• Family/social events

Students decide when they will take these days and notify the appropriate Phase admin team and their clinical teams. They will also make a plan to catch up on any missed learning. WMS encourages all faculty to support students’ requests for leave, especially if for wellbeing purposes.

The MBChB students are very active running a multitude of support networks. These also provide advice and information for teaching staff. You don't need a Warwick login to access these pages:

WMS Student Networks

Student co-created guides - useful for students and staff

• Speak to the WMS Admin staff at your Trust  
• Highlight your concerns to the block lead.   
• Please contact the student support team early  
• It is important that a student who may be struggling is identified early, so that we can provide appropriate academic and pastoral support.   
• It is good practice to inform the student that you are concerned about them and that you are going to contact WMS staff.  
• Contact the University Wellbeing services

Students are encouraged to consult their GP. Please do not undertake your own informal clinical assessments of students on attachment with you, or offer informal treatment advice to students.  

Any treatment you do provide for a student should be done via usual formal referral routes and be properly recorded. 

Please report any outstanding activities of students, or any concerns (such as upsetting incidents) using the WMS process. Each report will be considered individually. You can report incidents anonymously.

Concerns reporting page here

• Students are expected to adhere to similar standards as qualified doctors – i.e. the GMC’s 3 outcomes and 4 domains, (Outcomes for Graduates, 2018; Good Medical Practice, 2024).
• Our approach is supportive; we help students to develop in these areas, and the PPD curriculum is designed with this in mind.
• Our approach is also developmental; students in later phases are expected to have more developed professionalism skills, and our processes reflect this.

Professionalism is embedded through the curriculum. It’s taught in a variety of ways and in both academic and clinical settings, for example:

·Face-to-face interactive lectures

·Small group work

·Pre-recorded lectures

·Schwartz Rounds

·Case-based learning

·Clinical placements

·Reflection

Here is a list of a few of the topics covered, to show the breadth of the area, however there are many other areas of professionalism in addition to this list which are covered on the programme:

·Study skills & exam technique

·Giving effective feedback

·Communication skills (written and verbal)

·Attendance and absences

·Dress code

·Social media

·Equality & diversity

·Teamwork

·Reflection

·Self-care and personal wellbeing

·Managing uncertainty and change

·Thinking errors

The majority of medical students will never have a concern raised about them during their time at WMS. Our approach to dealing with the concerns raised is to be supportive rather than punitive, and help students to develop their professionalism skills.

The medical school has a process for reporting concerns about students. Concerns may be raised by students, staff (at WMS or from a placement provider) or anyone else who comes into contact with our students.

We have a Concerns Triage Group who decide who will deal with any concerns that are raised. This group also deals with any concerns that are deemed to be a ‘low level professionalism concern’. More serious concerns are referred to our Health, Welfare and Professionalism (HWP) group (which also considers whether something meets the threshold for Fitness to Practise) and in some cases to the University Report+Support. All cases involving sexual misconduct are dealt with by Report+Support before being referred back to HWP for consideration.

For further information:

Low Level Professionalism Concerns

University Report+Support

Or to report a concern:

Form to report a concern about a medical student