Medical Student Emergency Medicine

A practical guide to what to learn, see and practise during an Emergency Medicine placement.

Use this St Emlyn’s guide alongside your medical-school curriculum. It draws on GMC graduate outcomes and the MLA content map; it is not an official curriculum.

Find a presentation or skill Plan your placement Play Revision Pursuit

Recognise and respond

Recognise deterioration, take safe immediate action within your training and know when to call for help.

Start with urgent presentations

Assess common ED presentations

Develop a safe approach to the symptoms and problems you will meet in the Emergency Department.

Find a presentation

Practise clinical skills

Practise history, examination, procedures and communication with a partner or clinical supervisor.

Choose a skill to practise

Work safely as a new doctor

Build the habits of asking for help, communicating clearly and checking plans as you prepare for Foundation training.

Prepare for clinical responsibility

Starting your placement? Preparing for the MLA? Practise cardiovascular examination

Find a presentation or skill

Browse all placement topics →

Starting your ED placement?

Agree a few goals with your supervisor. Ask patients for permission to take part in their care, and make sure a clinician reviews your assessment and plan.

I only have one shift

Choose one suitable patient with your supervisor and follow their care.

Take a focused history and examine the patient with consent and supervision appropriate to your experience.
Present the problem and your suggested next step to a clinician. Ask for one specific piece of feedback.
Review one ECG, investigation or treatment decision together, then discuss why the patient was admitted or discharged.

Before leaving, write an anonymised learning point and choose one thing to practise next.

I have about a week

Start with a common presentation: take a history, examine and present your findings.
Ask to join the assessment of a deteriorating patient when appropriate. Learn how to summon help and rehearse immediate actions in simulation.
Practise an examination with a partner, then ask a clinician to observe your technique.
Follow a referral, handover or discharge conversation and discuss what made it safe.
Review your progress with your supervisor and choose the gaps to work on.

Choose sessions from the student placement programme

I have several weeks

Use the existing programme to combine preparation, case discussion and practice. Keep returning to patients you have seen and the feedback you receive.

Medical Student Emergency Medicine Placement programme

Agree how the sessions fit your medical school’s placement requirements.

What should I be able to do?

As a student, agree your role and supervision with the clinical team. Completing a page or practice card does not establish competence or permission to work independently.

Student practice and graduate expectations

GMC Outcomes for Graduates describe the standard at graduation. Its practical-skills supplement gives task-specific expectations, including simulation, direct supervision and indirect supervision. Indirect supervision still means help is available. These are not interchangeable, and do not replace your medical school’s assessment or local rules.

Recognise and explain: Build your understanding and discuss your reasoning with a clinician.
Practise under supervision: Agree a suitable patient or simulation, the task and who will supervise you before starting.
Observe and understand: Learn from advanced care without treating observation as authorisation to perform it.

These three labels organise St Emlyn’s placement activities; they are not an official GMC supervision scale. Reasonable adjustments and individual learning needs should be discussed with your school and placement team.

GMC Outcomes for Graduates

GMC practical skills and procedures

Preparing for the MLA?

Use the guide for structured knowledge, examination, communication and practical preparation.

Open the MLA Revision Guide →

Planning student teaching?

Use the existing session sequence, with preparation and cases, alongside supervised clinical learning.

Medical Student Emergency Medicine Placement programme

Browse medical-student lesson plans · Educator’s guide

Previously linked topics and acknowledgements

Useful topics from the earlier page are retained here. Its old Major/Acute headings were St Emlyn’s groupings, not the current MLA structure.

This guide builds on the original St Emlyn’s undergraduate learning map and the clinicians who share their teaching through FOAMed. Selected external resources remain linked where they help the learning task.

About this resource and its review

A St Emlyn’s guide to learning Emergency Medicine during undergraduate placements. It is not an official medical-school or GMC curriculum. Your medical school’s curriculum and assessment requirements take precedence.

National foundations: GMC Outcomes for Graduates, the practical-skills supplement and the MLA content map applying from September 2026.

Framework checked: 8 October 2026. This is a source check, not clinical sign-off.

Clinical learning outcomes: awaiting named clinical review.

The four learning routes are St Emlyn’s groupings. The six interconnected MLA domains remain part of the official content map.

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