Musculoskeletal examination
Examine a limb or joint while protecting comfort and recognising injury.
Clinical learning outcomes: Awaiting named clinical review.
What you should learn
- Examine the relevant joint or limb and describe function and findings.
- Seek help before manoeuvres that may worsen pain or injury.
Recognise and explain
- An examination of a painful injury should be adapted to the history, neurovascular concerns and the patient’s tolerance.
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.
- Choose the relevant MLA musculoskeletal card and practise with a partner.
- Agree a suitable patient and ask which parts of the examination are safe.
- Discuss the findings with a clinician and review relevant imaging together.
- Ask for feedback on your summary and how you checked patient comfort.
Start here
Chapter 7: Musculoskeletal
Choose an appropriate joint examination and review the agreed task.
Current guidance
GMC practical skills and procedures
Check the task-specific graduate expectation and discuss your current supervision with the placement team.
GMC guidance on the quality of clinical placements
Use the placement guidance to agree learning opportunities, supervision and feedback with your team.
Practise
One learner performs. One checks the important steps and gives feedback. Then swap. These are St Emlyn’s practice tools, not official MLA scoring systems.
Hand and wrist examination paired practice
Choose this examination for the agreed practice task; use the candidate brief and observer feedback.
Elbow examination paired practice
Choose this examination for the agreed practice task; use the candidate brief and observer feedback.
Shoulder examination paired practice
Choose this examination for the agreed practice task; use the candidate brief and observer feedback.
More practice cards (6)
Neck examination paired practice
Choose this examination for the agreed practice task; use the candidate brief and observer feedback.
Back examination paired practice
Choose this examination for the agreed practice task; use the candidate brief and observer feedback.
Hip examination paired practice
Choose this examination for the agreed practice task; use the candidate brief and observer feedback.
Knee examination paired practice
Choose this examination for the agreed practice task; use the candidate brief and observer feedback.
Ankle and foot examination paired practice
Choose this examination for the agreed practice task; use the candidate brief and observer feedback.
GALS screening examination paired practice
Choose this examination for the agreed practice task; use the candidate brief and observer feedback.
On your next shift
On a later shift, explain what a focused examination added beyond the imaging report.
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: Musculoskeletal examination.
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.