Five Liverpool Student Doctors were recently awarded General Practice Prizes for their achievements in the 2020-21 academic year. They shared with us the inspirational colleagues and patients behind their successful projects and essays.
Student Doctor Swarna Yemparala won the General Practice Student Placement Prize for her reflective essay on ‘The person who most inspired me on my GP placement’, for which she chose to write about Receptionist Marian Sullivan at Dovecot Health Centre.
Dr David Longford, Senior Clinical Lecturer and Theme Lead for General Practice at the School says Swarna’s piece of work “showed a depth of understanding around the importance of team working in GP and recognised the importance of relationship-based care.”
General Practice Student Placement Prize Winner Swarna Yemparala
Swarna shares, “I’d like to thank my GP tutors, Dr Alam and Dr Beyer for nominating me, and all the staff at Dovecot Health Centre for being so welcoming and making my experience at the clinic so enjoyable. I was in a very supportive environment, and this encouraged me to be proactive and engage with all the patients to take advantage of every learning opportunity.
As the general practice team treats patients throughout their lives, it is imperative that they feel understood and supported by everyone they encounter. I observed everyone in the practice take up this responsibility, especially the practice receptionist, Marian.
I wrote my essay about her as she inspired me to find small ways to make patients feel supported and understood, helping build a strong rapport to increase overall patient satisfaction and quality of care.
Deciphering all the information provided to you, learning how to decide on the best treatment route and communicating with patients are the most important skills that we need as doctors. I think that the GP practice is one of the best places to develop and enhance these skills as you encounter a variety of cases, covering all the different systems in a very short amount of time. You also learn about the importance of holistic care, as GPs must ensure that the patient’s social and psychological needs are being met as well.
Overall, I would encourage my fellow students to be enthusiastic and proactive on your GP placement as it is a great opportunity to enhance your consultation skills and learn about initial management. I’d also like to thank my family and friends, who support me and inspire me to be better every day.”
Student winners at the RCGP event in October 2021
The W F Jones Prize in General Practice was awarded to Student Doctor Kartik Goyal for the best General Practice case presentation.
Dr Helen Rawsthorne, Community Clinical Tutor Lead at Liverpool School of Medicine shares, “The judges felt that Kartik delivered an exceptional presentation, with both personally and professionally relevant insights into his General Practice case.”
W F Jones Prize Winner Kartik Goyal
Kartik says, “I am honoured to have received the prize and would like to thank the judging panel to have deemed me worthy of this accomplishment. I would especially like to thank Dr David Lewis, my 3rd Year Community Clinical Tutor (CCT) for nominating and educating me on how to give an effective case presentation.
The key learning point of my case was to refer to our own clinical judgment above existing guidelines. I feel that medical diagnostic guidelines are present to aid us but we are the true diagnosticians.
The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Student Project Prize is awarded for a piece of work specially focused on Primary Care. This year’s winners were Student Doctor Humaira Jamroze in first place for a project entitled ‘The quality of care of adults with epilepsy in primary care.’
Second place went to Student Doctor Katie Winstone for her work on ‘Raynaud’s phenomenon: a primary care problem? Is the primary care assessment and management of Raynaud’s phenomenon in accordance with NICE CKS guidelines.’
RCGP Student Project Prize Second Place Winner Katie Winstone
Katie shares more on her project and the inspiration behind it. “Raynaud’s phenomenon, an episodic vasospasm of the arteries in the extremities, is generally well recognised, but no studies had yet described how it is managed in primary care.
My project, based at a Merseyside general practice, audited the appropriateness of assessment, referral and management of patients with Raynaud’s Phenomenon, against the updated NICE guidelines. The project highlighted the importance of GPs in identifying patients who may have an underlying rheumatological condition, those that require referral to secondary care and patients that may benefit from medical therapy. Overall, most patients were managed according to NICE guidelines, though a focus on provision of conservative lifestyle advice and patient education may improve patient care.
This project was inspired by my pre-existing interest in primary care, alongside input from one of my supervisors Professor Marina Anderson, a consultant rheumatologist. I am also very grateful for the support and supervision of Dr Anna Stickland, who encouraged me to apply for the prize and helped to facilitate the audit.
RCGP Student Project Prize Third Place Winner Sophie Davenport
In third place was Student Doctor Sophie Davenport for her audit project on the safe prescribing of direct acting anticoagulants for patients with atrial fibrillation in primary care, particularly focusing on those with renal impairment.
Winners were invited to attend a glitzy RCGP event in October 2021, where they were awarded their prizes by Dr KJ Harrison, Vice Chair of Mersey Faculty RCGP and Community Clinical Tutor at the School.
Congratulations to all of the winners! And many thanks to the wonderful network of GP practices across Merseyside who play such a pivotal role in our students' training and personal development.
Discover More
- Interested in studying Medicine at the University of Liverpool? Learn more about the MBChB programme on our website (link).
- Are you a Liverpool Student Doctor passionate about all things GP? Why not join Liverpool GP Society via the Guild (link).
- Find out more about the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) on their website (link).