Headache
Describe the pattern of headache and look for features needing urgent investigation.
Clinical learning outcomes: Awaiting named clinical review.
What you should learn
- Take a history that identifies onset, associated symptoms and warning features.
- Discuss primary and secondary causes and appropriate next steps.
Recognise and explain
- Sudden onset, neurological findings and systemic features change the urgency; imaging is not required for every headache.
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.
- Take and present a headache history.
- Perform a focused examination with supervision.
- Discuss whether imaging or further tests are indicated and explain the safety net.
Start here
MLA: a focused history
Use the focused-history approach to establish onset, change and features needing urgent assessment; then discuss the headache lesson.
MLA: cranial-nerve examination when indicated
Review relevant neurological examination technique when indicated by the clinical assessment.
Current guidance
NICE CG150: headaches in over 12s
Focus on assessment for secondary causes and common primary headaches in people aged 12 and over.
NICE NG228: aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage
Discuss recognition and diagnostic investigation when subarachnoid haemorrhage is suspected, including how timing affects the next test.
Discuss
Assessing a new or changed headache
Use a thunderclap case and suspected giant cell arteritis to practise focused history, escalation and honest test interpretation.
On your next shift
Ask which finding most changed the clinician’s concern about a secondary cause.
Go deeper
Optional material. Advanced resources extend discussion; they do not define independent student practice. Check the publication date and compare clinical advice with current guidance.
Geeky Medics: headache history
Practise clarifying onset, progression and associated symptoms, then explain why the next assessment or investigation is needed.
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.
Presentations and conditions: Headache.
Clinical and professional capabilities: Assessment and clinical reasoning; Recognising limits and seeking help.
Practical skills: Focused neurological examination.
St Emlyn’s interpretation of relevant GMC graduate outcomes and MLA themes; these are summary labels, not official topic codes or a complete curriculum.
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.