Communication with patients and colleagues
Explain, listen and check what the other person has understood.
Clinical learning outcomes: Awaiting named clinical review.
What you should learn
- Explain an assessment or next step in plain language.
- Recognise communication needs and seek appropriate support.
Recognise and explain
- Interpreters, accessible information, privacy and time can change whether a conversation is useful.
On your placement
Agree the activity and supervision with the clinical team. For patient-facing learning, seek permission and respect the patient’s comfort and care needs.
- Ask a supervisor to observe a short explanation to a consenting patient.
- Check the patient’s concerns and understanding, without turning it into a test.
- Observe how the team arranges an interpreter or other communication support.
- Rehearse a difficult explanation with a partner and ask for feedback on clarity.
Start here
MLA: approach to communication
Choose a communication task and agree what the conversation needs to achieve.
MLA: consent conversations
Practise explaining a procedure, listening to questions and checking the decision.
Current guidance
GMC guidance on the quality of clinical placements
Use the placement guidance to agree learning opportunities, supervision and feedback with your team.
GMC decision making and consent
Use the sections on sharing information, consent and capacity to discuss a patient encounter with your supervisor.
On your next shift
Choose one piece of jargon you used today and find a clearer way to explain it.
How this relates to GMC graduate outcomes and the MLA
These are St Emlyn’s learning connections, not a claim that this page covers every national requirement.
Clinical and professional capabilities: Clinical assessment; Communication; Recognising limits and seeking help.
Practical skills: Communication with patients and colleagues.
Suggested placement activities informed by the GMC framework. No new procedure-specific supervision level is assigned here.
Explore the student placement programme
Student practice and graduate expectations
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.