MB ChB Phase II

_______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Learning Outcomes

Academic Year 2017/18

Student name:
_____________________________________________________________________________
 Phase II Learning Outcomes

Contents

Introduction .............................................................................................. 2
Advanced Cases 1 (AC1) ....................................................................... 3
AC1 Learning Outcomes ........................................................................ 3
Core Clinical Education (CCE) .............................................................. 4
CCE Overarching Learning Outcomes ................................................. 6
CCE 1 Learning Outcomes .................................................................... 7
CCE 1 Presentations ............................................................................ 10
CCE 2 Learning Outcomes .................................................................. 19
CCE 2 Presentations ............................................................................ 21
CCE 3 Learning Outcomes .................................................................. 30
CCE 3 Presentations ............................................................................ 32
Learning Outcomes for GP Days in CCE ........................................... 42
Learning Outcomes for Community Learning (Non-GP) .................. 46

1
Introduction

Background
This document aims to give further guidance to what you should currently be learning for the
end of Phase II (end of Year 2). It pulls together advice that has already been issued (such
as the advanced cases 1 learning outcomes, the case list, the investigations list, the drugs
list and the various presentations) and aims to make better sense of how to use these
sources to plan your learning now and your revision before the assessment.

Principles
The Warwick MBChB curriculum consists of blocks (such as AC1 or CCE1) and also themes
(such as social and population perspective). Each phase of the course and therefore each
phase examination will contain outcomes relating to particular blocks but also to the themes.
Where possible, these are integrated in terms of both learning and assessment especially as
theme outcomes are often met during clinical exposure rather than in specific sessions
relating to the theme.

Assessment
Overall, you should expect the balance of the summative assessment to be in approximate
proportion to learning time in the Phase. Therefore, just over a quarter will be material met in
AC1, with a further quarter being based on your clinical experience, trust learning and case
based learning in each of the three elements of CCE. Medical learning is not modular, and
material met in Phase I will be included when it relates to and provides the basis for learning
you have undertaken in Year 2.

2
 Advanced Cases 1 (AC1)

Introduction
This 12 week block is the start of your second year (Phase II) of the MBChB course.
Throughout Phase II you will build on your learning from Phase I, and during AC1 you will be
developing your skills in history taking and examination and most importantly the life-long
skill of learning from patients, in preparation for your Core Clinical Education placements that
form the remainder of Phase II

AC1 Learning Outcomes

By the end of AC1 students should be able to:

 Recognise the common symptoms and signs of multisystem disease

 Apply the knowledge and skills learnt in Phase I to patients with multisystem or
complex illnesses
 Describe the pathological processes involved with multisystem disease and how to
apply this knowledge when encountering new diseases
 Identify some common autoimmune diseases and their systemic effects
 Recognise the effect of immunocompromise in health and illness
 Differentiate between different types of immunological responses including allergies
 Have a basic understanding of genetic disease and the changes that this might bring
in the future, and identify some common paediatric genetic diseases
 Differentiate between the symptoms and signs of frailty, chronic illness and mental
illness
 Demonstrate ability to perform skills such as history taking, examination of systems
and specific skills necessary for working in a clinical setting
 Begin to form basic management plans for those with complex or chronic illnesses
 Evaluate the effectiveness of one or two types of treatment and the risks and benefits
involved
 Describe the roles of different members of the teams who work with patients and
discuss how illness affects families
 Compare access to healthcare for different groups of patients

3
 Core Clinical Education (CCE)

Introduction
The 30 weeks of Core Clinical Education has an overall aim of transitioning students from
mainly classroom based activities with some clinical experience to clinical students who can
thrive in an active clinical environment and access clinical learning effectively. We
understand that dealing with the breadth of possible clinical learning experiences can seem
daunting. To deal with this, please remember the overall ethos of CCE (see below). This is
followed by guidance and outcomes for CCE overall and specific outcomes for CCE 1, 2, 3
and their individual presentations list. However, this division between CCE 1, 2 and 3 is
slightly artificial in the clinical environment as students will come across various
presentations during each CCE block.

Overall Ethos
To become competent and confident at

 History taking
 Examination
 Constructing differential diagnoses
 Planning investigations
 Basic Management
 Communicating with patients and in teams and relating to common and important
conditions.

Guidance
Your teaching will have focussed on classic presentations in terms of history and examination
findings of the common and important conditions. You do need to be aware that not all
patients present classically but you are not expected to know all those atypical presentations,
just the very common and important ones.

Your list of differential diagnoses should include causes which are common in clinical practice
and the investigations you suggest, routinely available to those in GP and secondary care.
You have a list of the relevant investigations.

Your management plans should include a basic knowledge of the modalities available
(including psychological and social) and where a drug treatment is available, the class of
medication and one or two specific examples. Your CCE 3 handbook contains a guide to a
holistic approach to management. You will also be supplied with a relevant drug list to
complement the list for Phase I.

Remember the most important thing in medicine is diagnosis; if you begin by thinking about
the differential diagnosis, this will guide your questioning, focus the examination and the
choice of investigations.

4
Presentation List
You are provided with a presentation list to help you focus on a group of specific
presentations and assessments will focus on these presentations. In terms of the ‘depth’ of
learning for each presentation, you will meet the cases in a variety of settings – some in
case based learning sessions, some in ‘planned’ clinical encounters and some you will seek
out yourself in the clinical environment You should follow the key principles:

Epidemiology
How common is this presentation? How important?

Relevant basic science/knowledge

What basic science do I need to revise in order to understand this presentation fully?
(For example, in a case of COPD, it would be helpful to revise lung anatomy, the
pathological effects of smoking on the bronchial tree and lung tissue, type 1 vs type 2
respiratory failure, arterial blood gas results, etc.)

History and Examination

What are the classical findings for this presentation? How do patients usually present? Are
there any common and important ways that the presentation can be misleading?

Differential diagnosis
What are the likely/common causes? This is usually the first 2 to 4 on a list you would find in
any of the standard texts e.g. Macleod’s Clinical Examination or Kumar and Clark. What are
the important causes you also need to think about?

Investigations
What are the first line investigations for this presentation? Which are most useful? Which will
help you decide between your differential diagnoses?

Management
What are the key modalities of management? (advice, self care, drugs, surgical, etc.)
What are the most important examples for the diagnosis you have made? Refer to the drug
list but remember that management is about a lot more than drugs. What are the first line
treatments?

Prognosis
What is the likely outcome of this case? What factors could alter this prognosis?

5
 CCE Overarching Learning Outcomes

At the end of CCE students should be able to:

1. Take and record a patient's medical history, including family and social history, talking to
relatives or other carers where appropriate
a. Demonstrate the skills of a patient-centred interview in an active clinical environment
b. Explain the immediate and long-term health-related consequences of a ‘poor’
consultation for the patient and clinician e.g. failure to adhere to advice, delay in
seeking help in future, and negative anticipatory effects on subsequent consultation.

2. Present a comprehensive assessment of a patient’s clinical problem in real clinical

scenarios having obtained a full clinical history and performed relevant detailed clinical
examination including the likely clinical diagnoses and important differential diagnoses.

3. Observe and reflect on the process of clinical decisions made by teams, particularly
where the initial diagnosis is unclear, incorrect or the diagnosis changes
a. Reflect on a series of clinical judgements and decisions in relation to exemplar
clinical cases and how decisions were arrived at.

4. Outline the framework of obtaining consent, exploring ideas, concerns, expectations with
due regard for respecting the autonomy of a patient. An appreciation that this applies to
all clinical encounters apart from a few selected emergency situations.

5. Outline the microbiological principles in relation to surgical scrubbing

a. Outline the etiquette of theatre behaviour in relation to safe surgical practice and
specific infection control
b. Demonstrate surgical scrubbing and donning of personal protective equipment
(including hand antisepsis, surgical gowning, gloving and masking)
c. Apply the principles of the epidemiology of infectious diseases in a hospital setting.
Demonstrate adherence to hospital infection control measures.

6
CCE 1 Learning Outcomes
During CCE 1 the focus is on history taking and examination.

Achieving these learning outcomes can only be achieved by practicing history taking and
examination on patients.
At the end of CCE1 students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate effective communication in real and simulated scenarios involving patients,
carers and other professionals
a. Identify and reflect on the communication style of peers

2. Carry out a competent history and examination of a real or simulated patient including
the accurate observation and recording of signs and symptoms
a. Demonstrate the skills of seeking questions and checking patient understanding in an
active clinical environment
i. Analyse how poor consultation/communication results from incongruent
doctor-patient beliefs, expectations and experiences AND in a failure to
recognise and respond appropriately to the incongruence
ii. Demonstrate accepted methods of allowing patients to ask questions and
discuss their views, concerns and preferences
b. When asked to by a supervising clinician, accurately prepare and update clinical
records from clinical cases seen in clinical practice. Not all students will get the
chance to do this in CCE but students will have the opportunity as they progress
through the course
i. Describe ways in which a patient’s individuality can be maintained in written
communications
ii. Apply the principles of legislation, guidance and protocols surrounding the
security and confidentiality of patient identifiable information and the access
of such information by patients, their representatives or clinicians in common
scenarios
c. Take an occupational history and proceed to relevant clinical examination and
necessary investigations as relevant to the occupational condition.
d. Take a nutritional history and relate under/over nutrition to relevant clinical cases.
e. Demonstrate gaining a relevant and focused drug history from real and simulated
patients
i. Identify common and important barriers in gaining a full medication history
particularly in the young, the elderly and those on complex treatment regimes
ii. List the key issues to identify in a standard drug history including drug names,
dose, route and concordance
iii. Make an accurate assessment of adherence to medication as part of a
medical history
f. Recognise and ensure accurate documentation of patient's level of functioning in
activities of daily living and requirements for social support by informal or
professional carers
g. Assess the impact of alcohol consumption using an appropriate tool.

7
3. Demonstrate a structured approach to examining the well adult including observation,
palpation and auscultation
a. Relate key examination findings to common clinical decisions relating to relevant
clinical cases
b. Demonstrate ability to communicate appropriately with patient while performing a
physical examination; to explain what is going to be done; reassure during
performance; continual observance of patient's non-verbal and verbal cues during
examination.

4. Accurately present the results of history taking and examination in a succinct but
comprehensive way including when necessary the ability to prioritise the most clinically
relevant data
a. Present a series of clinical cases with varying degrees of complexity conveying the
key relevant clinical information
b. Present a series of clinical cases that demonstrate an integrated and efficient
process for making an initial assessment of a patient's presentation

5. Summarise clinical observations for real and simulated patient cases

a. Chart clinical data including patient symptoms into locally used approaches such as
MEWS, ABCDE, Glasgow Coma Scale to gauge the severity of a clinical
presentation
b. List and describe key emergencies Foundation doctors need to respond to. Please
note that management of these emergencies will be covered in Phase 3.

6. Provide a full list of additional differential diagnoses and co-morbidities for relevant core
clinical cases and analyse the relevant likelihood and importance of each

7. Apply accepted practice in the recording of patients' notes derived from histories taken in
the clinical environment of patients presenting with core presentations.
a. List basic abbreviations and their meanings commonly used when recording medical
histories
b. Having taken a comprehensive clinical history and performed a full clinical
examination, list possible clinical systems implicated and state possible diagnoses for
the presenting complaint

8
Top Tips

Be pro-active, ask the junior doctors and nursing staff if there are suitable patients on
the ward for you to talk to.

Try to see a variety of patients, use your whole faculty team for learning opportunities.
However all patients are different, 10 patients with the same diagnosis will give
different histories so don’t exclude patients because they have a condition you have
seen before.

Observe and be observed by your clinical partner and give each other feedback; ask
for specific feedback if you have a particular area you are working on. Ask patients for
feedback. Talk to relatives.

Follow up patients during their hospital stay, go with them for investigations.

Sign up for bedside teaching sessions. In hospital or GP sessions it doesn’t matter if

you get it wrong, you will get good constructive feedback on how to improve.

Ask junior doctors for extra Mini-CEX, OSLERS and CBDs.

Time spent on the wards at this stage is much more productive than in the
library.

9
CCE 1 Presentations
Below is a list of common and important presentations you should cover by block throughout
the course of CCE. The presentations are not an exhaustive list; it is to give you an idea of
the common conditions that students are expected to come across in the clinical
environment.

1. Abnormal blood sugar 14. Nose bleed / Nasal obstruction 


2. Acute abdominal pain 15. New-born screening /assessment
3. Acute central chest pain 16. Normal labour
4. Acute upper respiratory symptoms / sore 17. Normal Puerperium / Breast
throat feeding
5. Antenatal care and screening 18. Oedema
6. Change in bowel habit /Diarrhoea and 19. Physiology of pregnancy
vomiting 20. Pleuritic chest pain 

7. Cough (+/- wheeze) 21. Red eye
8. Development in the healthy child 22. Shock
9. Ear pain
23. Stroke

10. Fever
24. Swollen painful leg

11. Haemoptysis
25. Visual loss 

12. Hearing loss
26. Weight loss (unexplained)
13. Hypertension

The key learning outcomes will be:

 To take an adequate history and understand relevant differentials
 Carry out necessary examinations and investigations
 To understand basic management plans for such conditions

1. Abnormal blood sugar

By the end of CCE 1 students should be able to:
 Discuss key clinical features in the history and examination, which may indicate
abnormal blood sugar (hyperglycaemia and hypoglycaemia)
 Describe the clinical effects of diabetes (insulin dependent and non-insulin
dependent) and explain the underlying pathophysiology (including complications)
 Identify which questions in the history may be particularly significant in assessing
diabetic control, compliance and complications
 Describe which areas of the examination may be particularly significant in identifying
diabetic complications
 Describe what bedside, clinical, and laboratory investigations would be appropriate to
investigate a patient with abnormal blood sugar
 Recognise the possibility of hypoglycemia and the circumstances in which it may
occur

10
  Understand the broad principles of management (including dietary, lifestyle) of IDDM,
NIDDM and hypoglycemia

2. Acute abdominal pain

By the end of CCE 1 students should be able to:
 Identify common causes of abdominal pain (including appendicitis, gall stone
disease, pancreatitis, peptic ulcer disease) and have an understanding of the
demographics and risk factors associated with each cause
 Describe key questions from the history and findings from the examination which
help differentiate between causes of acute abdominal pain
 Have an understanding of a ‘surgical sieve’ to help identify the cause of abdominal
pain.
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with acute abdominal pain
 Understand the pathophysiology and basic management of the common causes.

3. Acute central chest pain

By the end of CCE 1 students should be able to:
 Identify common causes of acute central chest pain (including angina pectoris,
myocardial infarction, acute coronary syndrome, acute pericarditis) and have an
understanding of the demographics and risk factors associated with each cause
 Take a focused history on chest pain to identify key features (including risk factors)
and use these to formulate appropriate differential diagnoses
 Identify key findings on clinical examination in patients with chest pain and use these
to further develop differential diagnoses
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with chest pain (e.g. ECG, Echocardiogram,
serum troponin, coronary angiogram) and explain why
 Describe an overview of the principles of management of life threatening chest pain
conditions

4. Acute upper respiratory symptoms / sore throat

By the end of CCE 1 students should be able to:
 Identify the features of the history which help differentiate between common causes
of this presentation (including acute sore throat, acute pharyngitis, acute tonsillitis,
common cold, acute rhinosinusitis, acute cough and acute bronchitis)
 Recognise the difficulty in distinguishing viral and bacterial causes of sore throat and
consider the probability of glandular fever and peritonsillar abscess (quinsy)
 Identify red flags relating to respiratory symptoms
 Identify features of the examination which help differentiate between common causes
of this presentation
 Identify the common and important differential diagnoses for upper respiratory
symptoms and an understanding of the demographics and risk factors associated
with each cause
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate upper respiratory symptoms if needed
 Understand how to manage a patient with upper respiratory symptoms/sore throat
bearing in mind treatment is usually symptomatic but also taking into account the
likely organisms.

11
5. Antenatal care and screening
By the end of CCE 1 students should be able to:
 Understand pre-conceptual care, the use of folic acid preconception and the
nutritional requirements / lifestyle changes in pregnancy
 Describe routine antenatal screening tests including urine (urinalysis), blood tests
(FBC, Blood Group / Rhesus type, thalassaemia), infectious screen (HIV, Hepatitis B,
Syphilis) and mid-trimester anomaly scan as well as their interpretation. Understand
when additional screening tests are needed e.g. sickle cell disease screening in at
risk group and eye screening in women with diabetes.
 Understand the importance of 1st and 2nd trimester screening tests for congenital
abnormalities and the markers used.
 Understand genetic modes of inheritance and common structural abnormalities in the
foetus resulting from abnormal development.
 Understand routine vaccination in pregnancy (e.g. influenza vaccine, combined
diphtheria/tetanus/polio/pertussis vaccine) and when additional vaccination is
required e.g. Hepatitis B in those at risk
 Take an obstetric history including past obstetric history and mode of delivery
 Examine the pregnant abdomen and auscultate the foetal heart
 Understand schedules of routine antenatal care, midwifery care for low risk women
and the use of Anti-D.
 Understand the principles of risk assessment in pregnancy, the risks of drug
treatment and the risks of substance abuse in pregnancy
 Demonstrate an awareness of the patient’s autonomy (e.g. informed maternal
choice) and be aware of the legal rights of pregnant women

6. Change in bowel habit / Diarrhoea and vomiting

By the end of CCE 1 students should be able to:
 Explain the pathophysiological mechanisms causing diarrhoea and vomiting
 Understand the Bristol Stool Chart
 Identify common causes of change in bowel habit, diarrhoea/vomiting within the GI
tract (irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, bowel cancer,
malabsorption) and outside the GI
 Describe key questions from the history and findings from the examination which
help differentiate between the causes of diarrhoea, vomiting and change in bowel
habit
 Describe red flags relating to GI tract pathologies
 Apply the principles of microbiological diagnosis to infectious diseases of the
gastrointestinal tract and understand the common organisms causing infection
syndromes in the gastrointestinal tract (viral, bacterial & parasitic)
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with GI tract symptoms
 Explain the principles of management of common causes of GI tract symptoms

7. Cough (+/- wheeze)

By the end of CCE 1 students should be able to:
 Identify the common and important differential diagnoses for cough +/- wheeze
(including asthma and COPD) and have an understanding of the demographics and
risk factors associated with each cause
 Identify the features of the history, particularly social and occupational history, which
help differentiate between common causes of this presentation
 Take a detailed smoking history
 Identify red flags relating to respiratory symptoms

12
  Identify features of the examination which help differentiate between common causes
of this presentation
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with cough and wheeze and explain how these
would support a definitive diagnosis
 Explain the approach to principles of management for common and important
differential diagnoses (asthma, COPD)

8. Development in the healthy child

By the end of CCE 1 students should be able to:
 Outline normal developmental domains and developmental milestones including
vision, hearing, speech and walking.
 Understand the key features of the history (including social/safeguarding) and
examination to assess normal development
 Recognise failure to thrive, its common causes and other reasons for developmental
delay
 Describe the clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations that would be
appropriate to investigate a child with developmental delay
 Understand the principles of management for important differential diagnoses of
developmental delay.

9. Ear Pain
By the end of CCE 1 students should be able to:
 Describe and classify common / important causes of earache and relate them to the
anatomical location of the problem. Causes include local causes (most commonly
otitis media, otitis externa, mastoiditis) and referred pain.
 Understand some of the causes of referred ear pain such as tonsillitis, dental
abscess (via the auriculo-temporal branch of the trigeminal nerve), temporo-
mandibular arthritis, Herpes / Ramsey Hunt syndrome (via the facial nerve), and
carcinoma base of tongue (via the glossopharyngeal nerve)
 Identify features of the history and examination which help differentiate between
common causes of ear pain taking note of red flags
 Outline appropriate investigations which may be used in patients with a painful ear
 Understand the pathophysiology and basic management of the common causes.

10. Fever
By the end of CCE 1 students should be able to:
 Explain the physiology of thermoregulation
 Define fever, explain its pathophysiology and understand pyrexia of unknown origin
 Identify and classify common / important causes of fever and understand the
demographics and risk factors associated with each cause
 Understand that fever occurs most commonly as part of the acute phase response to
infection but other causes include connective tissue disorders (polymyalgia
rheumatica, SLE, rheumatoid arthritis), drug reactions, and malignancies
(haematological, solid tumours – renal, liver colon)
 Describe key features of the history and examination in patients with fever to support
the development of appropriate differential diagnoses
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with fever and how these would support a
definitive diagnosis
 Explain the approach to principles of management for common and important
differential diagnoses

13
11. Haemoptysis
By the end of CCE 1 students should be able to:
 Identify the common and important differential diagnoses for haemoptysis and have
an understanding of the demographics and risk factors associated with each cause.
 Understand that haemoptysis usually arises due to infection of the medium sized
airways (viral or bacterial bronchitis) in the setting of acute bronchitis or exacerbation
of chronic bronchitis as well as in pulmonary tuberculosis.
 Identify red flags relating to respiratory symptoms
 Identify features of the history and examination which help differentiate between
causes of haemoptysis e.g. pink tinge frothy sputum of left ventricular failure, deep
red flecks in bronchial carcinoma and pulmonary embolism, and the rusty colour
sputum in pneumococcal pneumonia.
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with haemoptysis and explain how these would
support a definitive diagnosis
 Explain the approach to principles of initial management of haemoptysis

12. Hearing loss

By the end of CCE 1 students should be able to:
 Understand that hearing loss may be unilateral or bilateral and may develop slowly or
occur suddenly.
 Describe the two main types of hearing loss: conductive and sensorineural
 Understand common causes of conductive (cerumen or earwax, foreign bodies,
infection, otosclerosis, congenital abnormalities) and sensorineural (congenital, viral
infection, ototoxic drugs) hearing loss
 Identify features of the history (including relevant associated symptoms such as
tinnitus, vertigo and their significance) and identify features of the examination
relevant to each of the common and important differential diagnoses
 Describe what bedside, clinical, and radiological tests would be appropriate to
investigate hearing loss e.g. Rinne / Weber tests and interpretation of the findings
 Explain the types of audiometry and their indications
 Explain the principles of management for common and important differential
diagnoses

13. Hypertension
By the end of CCE 1 students should be able to:
 Define hypertension and describe how it should be diagnosed clinically
 Describe common / important causes of hypertension (including essential
hypertension, renal disease, etc.) and understand the demographics and risk factors
associated with each cause
 Describe key questions from the history and findings from the examination which
help differentiate between various causes of hypertension
 Explain the consequences of hypertension to other organ systems and describe how
these may be identified in clinical settings (including severity of the problem)
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with hypertension
 Explain the approach to principles of management in patients with hypertension
including non-drug measures

14
14. Nasal disease – nose bleed and nasal obstruction
By the end of CCE 1 students should be able to:
 Describe common and important causes of nose bleed and nasal obstruction
including nasal trauma, rupture of mucosa vessels in Little’s area, allergic / non-
allergic rhinitis, sinusitis, nasal polyps and deviated septum (in nasal obstruction).
 Identify features of the history and examination relevant to each of the common and
important differential diagnoses
 Describe what investigations would be appropriate to investigate a patient with
epistaxis and nasal obstruction
 Describe the first aid management of nose bleed and principles of further
management of nose bleed
 Explain basic management of the common causes of nasal blockage.

15. Newborn screening and assessment

By the end of CCE 1 students should be able to:
 Describe the screening tests carried out in the newborn including: physical
examination heart, eyes, hips and testes (in males); hearing test; and blood spot test
(sickle cell disease, cystic fibrosis, congenital hypothyroidism and inherited metabolic
diseases)
 Understand how to carry out a routine examination of the newborn including
measurement of height, weight and head circumference, plot these on the
appropriate chart and interpret the results
 Identify conditions such as cyanosis, respiratory distress (grunting) and fits in the
newborn
 Describe the clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations that would be
appropriate to investigate a newborn baby
 Understand the principles of management of common conditions found in the
newborn.

16. Normal labour

By the end of CCE 1 students should be able to:
 Understand the anatomy of the pelvis and perineum including episiotomy
 Understand the mechanisms of normal labour and delivery and show an awareness
of multiprofessional working
 Understand management of the various stages of normal labour, maternal and fetal
wellbeing monitoring including the use of the partogram
 Understand the various types of pain relief in labour, their use, limitations and / or
side effects
 Describe the clinical and laboratory investigations that would be appropriate to
investigate a patient in labour.
 Have an awareness of the principles for the choice of mode of delivery by the mother
in partnership with healthcare professionals and the legal status of the foetus and the
mother
 Fully participate in and ideally assist or conduct a normal vaginal delivery under
supervision

15
17. Normal Puerperium and Breast feeding
By the end of CCE 1 students should be able to:
 Understand the definition of puerperium as the time from the delivery of the placenta
to the end of the 6th postnatal week.
 Demonstrate an understanding of the physiological changes during a normal
postpartum period including uterine involution, changes in lochia, changes in plasma
volume / red cell mass and lactation.
 Understand the importance of breastfeeding / awareness of breastfeeding initiatives
as well as common breast problems such as nipple pain, nipple crack, breast
engorgement, mastitis
 Be able to formulate advice regarding postpartum contraception
 Demonstrate an awareness of the roles of other healthcare professionals (e.g.
midwives, health visitors, physiotherapists) during puerperium.

18. Oedema
By the end of CCE 1 students should be able to:
 Understand the pathophysiology of oedema: increased hydrostatic pressure,
decreased oncotic pressure / plasma protein and obstruction to lymphatic drainage
 Describe and classify common / important causes of oedema: generalised oedema
(cardiac failure, renal failure, hypoalbuminaemia, drugs, idiopathic cyclic oedema,
pretibial myxoedema) and local oedema (DVT, chronic venous insufficiency,
lymphoedema)
 Identify features of the history (including red flags) and examination relevant to each
of the common and important differential diagnoses of oedema
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with oedema
 Understand the basic management of the common causes of oedema

19. Physiology of pregnancy

By the end of CCE 1 students should be able to:
 Understand the hormonal changes during pregnancy, sources of the hormones and
their effects
 Understand the physiological changes that happen during pregnancy including
homeostatic changes, prothrombotic changes (e.g. coagulation factors, Protein C, S,
etc.)
 Describe the changes in body systems / organs that accompany pregnancy including
cardiovascular, renal, GI and immune systems
 Understand the pathophysiology of common conditions related to the physiology of
pregnancy e.g. hypertension, DM
 Outline the developmental processes that occur during pregnancy including the feto-
placental unit

20. Pleuritic chest pain

By the end of CCE 1 students should be able to:
 Describe the common and important differential diagnoses for pleuritic chest pain
(pulmonary embolus, pneumonia, pneumothorax) and have an understanding of the
demographics and risk factors associated with each cause
 Identify features of the history and examination relevant to each of the common and
important differential diagnoses of pleuritic chest pain
 Identify red flags relating to respiratory symptoms
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with pleuritic chest pain and explain how these
would support a definitive diagnosis
16
  Explain the principles of management for common and important differential
diagnoses

21. Red eye

By the end of CCE 1 students should be able to:
 Understand that red eye may result from trauma, infection, allergy or increased
pressure in the eye.
 Identify features of the history and examination relevant to each of the common and
important differential diagnoses (acute conjunctivitis, acute iritis, corneal abrasion,
narrow angle glaucoma)
 Describe what bedside, clinical, and radiological investigations would be appropriate
to investigate red eye
 Explain the principles of management for common and important differential
diagnoses

22. Shock
By the end of CCE 1 students should be able to:
 Define shock as a clinical syndrome characterised by inadequate systemic and tissue
perfusion.
 Describe and classify common / important causes of shock including hypovolaemic
(haemorrhage and other fluid losses), cardiogenic (MI, arrhythmias, etc.), obstructive
(tension pneumothorax, cardiac tamponade), anaphylactic, and neurogenic shock.
 Identify features of the history and examination relevant to each of the common
causes
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient in shock
 Explain the principles of management of the different types of shock

23. Stroke
By the end of CCE 1 students should be able to:
 Describe the causes and risk factors for stroke including hypertension, diabetes,
hypercholesterolaemia, smoking, carotid stenosis and TIA
 Identify the common and important differentials for stroke including space occupying
lesion and demyelination
 Identify features of the history and examination relevant to a stroke diagnosis and
describe how they help discriminate stroke from important differentials
 Relate history and examination findings to the anatomy of the brain to identify the
areas of the brain affected
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with suspected stroke
 Describe an overview of the principles of management of stroke

24. Swollen painful leg

By the end of CCE 1 students should be able to:
 Understand that painful leg swelling may result from DVT, trauma, cellulitis,
thrombophlebitis, compartment syndrome, and ruptured Baker’s cyst
 Identify features of the history and examination relevant to each of the common and
important differential diagnoses (e.g. history of trauma / exercise in gastrocnemius
muscle rupture, areas of erythema / redness in cellulitis and thrombophlebitis)
 Describe what bedside, clinical, and radiological investigations would be appropriate
to investigate a swollen painful leg

17
  Explain the principles of management for common and important differential
diagnoses

25. Visual loss

By the end of CCE 1 students should be able to:
 Understand the principle anatomical components of the visual system and describe
the anatomy and physiology of the orbit
 Understand that visual loss may be sudden (painful or painless) or gradual in nature.
 Describe features of the history and examination relevant to each of the common and
important differential diagnoses (e.g. retinal detachment, optic neuritis, retinal
haemorrhage, central retina vascular occlusion, attacks of acute narrow angle
glaucoma)
 Describe what bedside, clinical, and radiological investigations would be appropriate
to investigate visual loss
 Explain the principles of management for common and important differential
diagnoses

26. Weight loss (unexplained)

By the end of CCE 1 students should be able to:
 Define weight loss and identify whether unintentional or intentional
 Identify important epidemiological factors related to unintentional weight loss
 Understand the important factors when eliciting a history of weight loss, which may
help develop appropriate differential diagnoses.
 Describe the clinical signs associated with weight loss and signs which may indicate
its underlying cause
 Use the evidence identified in the history and examination to formulate differential
diagnoses and explain the pathophysiology of the weight loss
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with unexplained weight loss
 Explain the principles of management for common and important differential
diagnoses

18
CCE 2 Learning Outcomes
During CCE 2 the focus is on investigations and differential diagnoses.

At the end of CCE 2 students should be able to:

1. Outline the process of formulating a plan of investigation/care and how to discuss this
with a patient (and carers/family if appropriate). Demonstrates how to check
understanding by the patient (and carers/family if appropriate).

2. Interpret the results of common investigations and clinical images in relation to disease
severity and tracking patient progress in real clinical scenarios
a. Present an interpretation of various sets of clinical results and clinical images
from the subset of the clinical skills listed in Tomorrows Doctors and presented in
the investigations list for CCE.
b. Interpret the results of common investigations and clinical images in relation to
refining a clinical diagnosis including understanding normality and potential life-
threatening scenarios.
3. Demonstrate reaching relevant and useful conclusions about a patients general health
and progress during common illnesses or treatment using routine clinical data in real or
simulated patients

4. Describe the selection of investigations used for the differential diagnosis of common
and/or important conditions as specified in the presentations list.
a. Explain the fundamental principles underlying the categories of investigations
used for common and/or important conditions
b. List the categories of investigations used for common and/or important conditions
c. List the individual tests which belong to the categories of investigations used for
common and/or important conditions. Describe the risks and contraindications to
the individual tests.

5. Describe patterns of test abnormality that are typical of common and important
conditions.
a. Describe the changes in values for a given test that constitute abnormality rather
than intersubject or intrasubject variability.
b. Describe patterns of test abnormality which though may not be frequent may lead
to errors in assessing common and important conditions
c. Demonstrate an ability to question when the result of a laboratory test may be
erroneous considering a knowledge of an individual patient's clinical state.

6. Describe investigations in terms understandable by users of health services in

supervised clinical environments such that the description might be used as the basis of
informed consent
a. Explain a plan of investigation formulated to resolve a differential diagnosis in
terms understandable by a health service user.

19
Top Tips

Keep taking histories and examining as many patients as you can.

At the end discuss with your clinical partner what the differential diagnoses might be –
even if you know the diagnosis you can still think of other possibilities. How would the
history or examination differ with the other diagnoses?

Discuss what investigations you would do it you were the doctor seeing each patient for
the first time.

Look at various blood test results – from patients’ records, from your GP placement –
and try to interpret them.

Follow patients for radiological investigations, endoscopies, etc. Could you describe to a
patient what is going to happen during the test? Talk to patients about their experience
of the test.

Use the investigations list as a guide

20
CCE 2 Presentations

1. Abnormal menstruation 14. Hypercalcaemia

2. Acid-base abnormalities 15. Impact of chronic disability
3. Acute Confusion/delirium 16. Jaundice
4. Anaemia 17. Limb claudication
5. Breast lump
 18. Lump in the neck
6. Breathlessness (cardiac) 
 19. Lymphadenopathy 

7. Central chest pain (chronic) 20. Memory loss, chronic confusion and
8. Cervical screening/Abnormal cervical dementia
smear 21. Normal menopause
9. Contraception
 22. Obesity
10. Fatigue 23. Renal failure
11. Febrile child 24. Proteinuria
12. Fluid and electrolyte abnormalities 25. Substance abuse (including Alcohol)
13. Hoarseness and voice change 26. Upper limb disorders

The key learning outcomes will be:

 To take an adequate history and understand relevant differentials
 Carry out necessary examinations and investigations
 To understand basic management plans for such conditions
1. Abnormal menstruation
By the end of CCE 2 students should be able to:
 Understand the physiology of the menstrual cycle
 Take a focused history on abnormal menstruation to identify key features and use
these to formulate appropriate differential diagnoses (amenorrhoea, menorrhagia,
metrorrhagia, dysfunctional uterine bleeding and postmenopausal bleeding).
 Discuss key clinical features in the history and examination which may help develop
appropriate differential diagnoses for abnormal menstruation
 Understand common causes of abnormal menstruation and the underlying
pathophysiology
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with abnormal menstruation and explain why (e.g.
pelvic USS, endometrial biopsy, hormonal profile – TFTs, prolactin, FSH/LH)
 Understand the management plan for the common causes and the concerns which a
patient might have

2. Acid-base abnormalities
By the end of CCE 2 students should be able to:
 Understand the homeostatic control of pH
 Explain causes of respiratory alkalosis/acidosis and causes of metabolic alkalosis
and acidosis

21
  Discuss key clinical features in the history and examination which may help develop
appropriate differential diagnoses for acidosis and alkalosis
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with acid-base abnormalities including a step-
wise approach to interpreting blood gas results
 Understand the principles of management in patients with acid-base abnormalities

3. Acute Confusion / Delirium

By the end of CCE 2 students should be able to:
 Understand confusion as global impairment of mental function and delirium as an
abrupt decline in cognitive function that follows a fluctuating course
 Understand common causes of delirium/confusion such as alcohol, pain, drugs
(opiods, benzodiazepines, antipsychotics), hypoxia/hypercapnia, metabolic
(hypo/hyperglycaemia, hyponatremia, hypercalcemia), infection (CNS/Non-CNS) and
intracranial.
 Discuss key clinical features in the history and examination which may help develop
appropriate differential diagnoses for acute confusion and delirium
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with acute confusion / delirium (e.g. Confusion
Assessment Method, Abbreviated Mental Test, Mini-Mental State Examination,
metabolic screen, U&Es)
 Understand the management plan for the common causes of acute confusion and
delirium

4. Anaemia
By the end of CCE 2 students should be able to:
 Understand the normal requirements of erythropoiesis
 Describe common types of anaemia (iron deficiency, B12 and folate deficiency), the
morphological patterns and their underlying causes
 Discuss key clinical features in the history and examination which may help develop
appropriate differential diagnoses for anaemia
 Describe the clinical effects of anaemia and explain the pathophysiology behind them
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with anaemia (including interpretation of full blood
count and secondary haematological investigations)
 Understand the principles of management in patients with common anaemias (iron
deficiency, B12/folate deficiency)

5. Breast lump
By the end of CCE 2 students should be able to:
 Explain the anatomy of the breast
 Describe the common causes of breast lumps including fibroadenoma, fibrocystic
change, breast cancer, breast abscess, fat necrosis. Understand that other skin and
subcutaneous lesions such as epidermoid cysts and lipomata may occur in the
breast
 Discuss key clinical features in the history and examination which may help develop
appropriate differential diagnoses for breast lumps
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with breast lump such as USS, mammography,
fine needle aspiration, core biopsy (including their interpretation)
 Understand the screening programme for breast cancer (including extended
programme)

22
  Explain the principles of management for the common and important differential
diagnoses
of breast lumps

6. Breathlessness (cardiac)
 Explain the pathophysiology of breathlessness as a mismatch between instructions
for ventilation sent by the brainstem and the sensory feedback from the thorax.
 Describe the cardiac causes of acute breathlessness (acute cardiogenic pulmonary
oedema, acute coronary syndrome, cardiac tamponade, arrhythmia, acute valvular
heart disease) and chronic breathlessness (chronic heart failure, coronary artery
disease, valvular heart disease, constrictive pericarditis and pericardial effusion)
 Discuss key clinical features in the history and examination which may help develop
appropriate differential diagnoses for acute and chronic cardiac breathlessness and
assessment of severity
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with breathlessness of cardiac origin such as
ABG, FBC, CXR, ECG Echocardiogram (including their interpretation)
 Explain the principles of management for common and important differential
diagnoses

7. Central chest pain (chronic)

By the end of CCE 2 students should be able to:
 Identify common causes of chronic chest pain (including angina pectoris, gastro-
oesophageal reflux disease, musculoskeletal, anxiety / panic attacks) and have an
understanding of the associated risk factors.
 Take a focused history on chest pain to identify key features (including risk factors)
and use these to formulate appropriate differential diagnoses
 Identify key findings on clinical examination in patients with chronic chest pain and
use these to further develop differential diagnoses
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with chronic central chest pain such as ECG,
CXR, Upper GI endoscopy and their interpretation
 Explain the principles of management for common and important differential
diagnoses

8. Cervical Screening / Abnormal Cervical Smear

By the end of CCE 2 students should be able to:
 Understand the current cervical screening programme, the age group involved,
frequency of screening and the use of liquid based cytology
 Describe the role of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) in the development of abnormal
cervical pathology and high risk HPV (HPV16 and HPV18) link to cervical cancer.
 Understand the role of HPV vaccination in protecting against high risk HPV and the
age group recommended for vaccination (12 -18 years).
 Identify key features in the history and examination findings that would be important
in a patient with abnormal cervical smear
 Understand how abnormal cervical smear is reported/referred: borderline nuclear
abnormalities, mild, moderate and severe dyskaryosis and the principles of
colposcopy.

23
9. Contraception
By the end of CCE 2 students should be able to:
 Demonstrate a basic knowledge of reversible, irreversible and post-coital emergency
contraception including the various methods, their mode of action, efficacy,
contraindications and complications.
 Discuss the merits and disadvantages of the variety of contraceptive methods
available to patients including: natural methods, barrier (male/female condom,
diaphragm, caps), hormonal (combined and progesterone-only via oral, transdermal,
subdermal, intramuscular routes), intrauterine contraception (copper or progestogen),
sterilisation (male/female), post-coital emergency methods (progestogen, intrauterine
contraceptive device).
 Understand the methods by which contraception can be achieved: gamete
suppression, modulation of the cervical mucus, endometrial changes, prevention of
implantation, and interruption of the communicating tubes
 Identify key features in the history and examination findings that would be important
for consideration in the choice of contraception
 Understand why contraception important on a national and global scale
 Understand the need to respect cultural and religious beliefs as well as sexual
diversity

10. Fatigue
By the end of CCE 2 students should be able to:
 Understand that fatigue is physical and / or mental exhaustion. It is common and
non-specific, therefore identifying significant underlying disease can be difficult.
 Identify that acute fatigue is usually caused by self-limiting infections and transient
life circumstances
 Understand that fatigue of longer duration could be due to: non-organic
(psychological stress / overwork, depression, fibromyalgia, ME); medication (beta-
blockers, benzodiazepines, corticosteroids); haematological (anaemia, lymphoma);
endocrine (DM, hypothyroidism, adrenal insufficiency); infection (TB, HIV, infectious
mononucleosis); sleep apnoea, CCF, and malignancy.
 Identify key features of the history and examination which help differentiate between
causes of this presentation
 Understand that fatigue may act as a ‘proxy’ complaint for an issue that the patient is
reluctant to raise directly e.g. problems with finances, employment, alcohol and
sexual relationships.
 Describe the clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations that would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with fatigue and explain how these would support
a definitive diagnosis
 Understand the principles of management for important differential diagnoses of
fatigue.

11. Fever in a child

By the end of CCE 2 students should be able to:
 Understand that most febrile children have a brief self-limiting viral infection.
 Describe other important causes of fever in children (including otitis media, tonsillitis,
pneumonia, UTI, septicaemia and meningitis)
 Identify key features of the history and examination which help differentiate between
various causes of this presentation (including past medical history, illness of other
family members, immunisation status, recent travel)
 Describe what bedside, clinical, and laboratory investigations would be appropriate to
investigate a child with fever e.g. septic screen (including interpretation)
24
  Understand the immediate management plan of fever in a child

12. Fluid and electrolyte abnormalities

By the end of CCE 2 students should be able to:
 Explain the physiology of normal fluid and electrolyte homeostasis
 Describe common causes of dehydration, fluid overload and their clinical features
 Describe common causes of electrolyte disturbance (hypo and hypernatraemia, hypo
and hyperkalaemia), including excessive diuretic therapy, acute diarrhoea/vomiting,
oliguric renal failure, cardiac failure, SIADH, drugs (anticonvulsants, antidepressants,
psychotropics) their clinical features and approach to management
 Identify key features of the history and examination which help differentiate between
causes of this presentation
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with fluid and electrolyte imbalance such as
U&Es, plasma osmolality, CXR and CT brain (including their interpretation)
 Have a broad understanding of different types of intravenous fluids and their uses

13. Hoarseness and voice change

By the end of CCE 2 students should be able to:
 Explain the anatomical location of the larynx in the neck
 Describe causes of hoarseness (including acute laryngitis, acid reflux, allergies,
smoking, vocal overuse, thyroid problems, benign vocal cord cyst or polyps, recurrent
laryngeal nerve injury) and identify the red flags for hoarseness (laryngeal cancer)
 Identify key features in the history and examination findings relating to hoarseness
and voice change that would support the development of appropriate differential
diagnoses
 Describe what bedside, clinical, and laboratory investigations would be appropriate to
investigate a patient with hoarseness and voice change including their interpretation
e.g. laryngoscopy, fibreoptic scope.
 Understand the principles of management for common and important differential
diagnoses

14. Hypercalcaemia
By the end of CCE 2 students should be able to:
 Understand the control of calcium metabolism including the role of PTH and Vitamin
D
 Describe common causes of calcium disturbance (hypo and hypercalcemia), and
their clinical features. Causes of hypercalcemia to consider include: severe
dehydration; medication (diuretics, lithium); hyperparathyroidism; dietary
supplements (calcium and Vitamin D); lung diseases (TB, sarcoidosis); and cancer
(lung, breast, bony metastases, multiple myeloma). Causes of hypocalcaemia to
consider include malabsorption, CRF, hypoparathyroidism
 Identify key features of the history and examination which help differentiate between
causes of hypercalcemia
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with hypercalcemia such as serum calcium,
Vitamin D, PTH, CXR, CT scan (including their interpretation)
 Understand the principles of management for common and important differential
diagnoses

25
15. Impact of chronic disability
By the end of CCE 2 students should be able to:
 Recognise the possibility of multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and motor
neurone disease in patients presenting with neurological symptoms, and relate the
major clinical findings to the underlying pathology
 Describe key features in the history and examination findings relating to chronic
disability that would support the development of appropriate differential diagnoses

 Describe what bedside, clinical, and laboratory investigations would be appropriate to

investigate a patient presenting with symptoms of these conditions (including their
interpretation)
 Understand the principles of management of these conditions

 Understand the impact of chronic disability on patients’ lives and recognise the role of
occupational therapy, physiotherapy and the support services in the long-term care of
the disabled

16. Jaundice
By the end of CCE 2 students should be able to:
 Explain the pathophysiology associated with the development of jaundice
 Classify the causes of jaundice into pre-hepatic, hepatic and post-hepatic and identify
common and important examples of each. Distinguish between infectious and
mechanical causes of biliary obstruction.
 Describe key questions from the history and findings from the examination which
help differentiate between causes of jaundice
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with jaundice (including interpretation). Should be
able to identify the components included in LFTs and understand what each
represents in terms of liver function and dysfunction.
 Be aware of additional tests used within the liver screen to further discriminate liver
pathologies (hepatitis serology, iron studies, auto-antibodies, alpha1 antitrypsin, USS
abdomen)
 Understand the principles of management for common and important differential
diagnoses

17. Limb claudication

By the end of CCE 2 students should be able to:
 Understand the arterial supply to the lower limb
 Discuss the epidemiology of peripheral arterial disease and risk factors associated
with its development
 Describe the key findings from the history and examination characteristic of patients
with peripheral arterial disease
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with peripheral arterial disease including how to
perform an Ankle Brachial Pressure Index (ABPI) test using a Doppler, limb
angiography, etc. and their interpretation
 Explain the approach to the principles of management of peripheral arterial disease

26
18. Lump in the neck
By the end of CCE 2 students should be able to:
 Understand the anatomy of the neck, particularly relating to the thyroid gland, lymph
nodes and other neck structures
 Identify common and important causes of neck lumps (cervical lymphadenopathy,
thyroid enlargement, salivary gland disease, branchial cyst, cystic hygroma,
thyroglossal cyst, epidermal cyst)
 Describe key features in the history and examination findings (including red flags)
relating to neck lumps that would support the development of appropriate differential
diagnoses
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with neck lump (including their interpretation)
 Understand the principles of management for common and important differential
diagnoses

19. Lymphadenopathy
By the end of CCE 2 students should be able to:
 Understand the lymphatic drainage system and the difference between generalised
lymphadenopathy (presence of palpable lymph nodes in three or more chains) and
localised lymphadenopathy
 Identify possible differential diagnoses for generalised lymphadenopathy including
lymphoma, leukaemia, collagen vascular disorders, systemic bacterial, viral, and
protozoal infection
 Describe key features in the history and examination findings relating to
lymphadenopathy which would support the development of appropriate differential
diagnoses
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with enlarged lymph nodes and distinguish
between reactive and malignant causes of lymphadenopathy
 Understand the principles of management for common and important differential
diagnoses

20. Memory loss, chronic confusion and dementia

By the end of CCE 2 students should be able to:
 Understand dementia as a chronic progressive decline in cognitive function without
disturbance of consciousness
 Identify common and important causes of dementia and chronic cognitive impairment
(Alzheimer’s, vascular disease), reversible causes (Vitamin B12 / folate deficiency,
hypothyroidism, normal pressure hydrocephalus, neurosyphilis, Wilson’s disease)
and other less common causes (multiple sclerosis, Korsakoff’s psychosis,
Huntington’s disease)
 Identify key features in the history and examination findings relating to dementia and
chronic confusion that supports the development of appropriate differential diagnoses
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with dementia and memory loss including 6CIT,
CT scan brain, TFTs, serum B12 and folate and their interpretation.
 Understand the principles of management for common and important differential
diagnoses

27
21. Normal menopause
By the end of CCE 2 students should be able to:
 Explain the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis
 Understand the definition of menopause and recognise the symptoms associated
with oestrogen deficiency
 Identify key features in the history and examination including recognition of the need
for oestrogen replacement in the individual patient based on symptomatology and/or
future risk of degenerative disorders
 Communicate the concept of disease prevention to the patient with special reference
to cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis
 Describe what investigations would be appropriate to investigate a patient with
menopausal symptoms such as oestrogen, FSH, LH (including their interpretation)
 Understand the principles of management of menopausal symptoms, the indications
for different types of HRT and the advantages and disadvantages of hormone
replacement therapy

22. Obesity
By the end of CCE 2 students should be able to:
 Understand the definition of obesity, pathophysiology and how BMI is calculated.
 Identify common and important causes of obesity including excess calorie intake,
inadequate exercise, diseases (hypothyroidism, Cushing’s syndrome), drugs
(anticonvulsants, antidepressants, antipsychotics, oral corticosteroids)
 Explain the risks associated with obesity including hypertension, hyperlipidaemia,
NIDDM, gallbladder disease, sleep apnea, reduced life expectancy, oesophageal and
renal cancer
 Identify key features in the history and examination findings relating to obesity that
supports the development of appropriate differential diagnoses
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with obesity (including their interpretation)
 Explain and advise patients on the principles of management of obesity

23. Proteinuria
By the end of CCE 2 students should be able to:
 Understand the physiology involved in excess protein excretion by the kidneys
 Identify common and important causes of proteinuria including renal
(glomerulonephritis, diabetes, amyloidosis, SLE, infection), non-renal (fever, burns,
severe hypertension, heart failure) and transient proteinuria (vigorous exercise,
febrile illness, cold exposure)
 Identify key features in the history and examination findings relating to proteinuria
that would support the development of appropriate differential diagnoses
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with proteinuria in relation to the underlying
pathophysiology (including their interpretation)
 Understand the principles of management for common and important differential
diagnoses

28
24. Renal failure
By the end of CCE 2 students should be able to:
 Explain the physiology of the kidney and understand the differences between acute
and chronic kidney disease
 Identify common and important causes of acute kidney injury (categorise into pre-
renal, renal and post-renal) and important causes of chronic kidney disease
(hypertension, diabetes)
 Identify key features in the history and examination relating to kidney disease that
would support the development of appropriate differential diagnoses
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with kidney disease (including their interpretation)
 Describe the principles of management of acute and chronic kidney failure

25. Substance abuse (including Alcohol)

By the end of CCE 2 students should be able to:
 Understand the issue of alcohol abuse /dependence, including epidemiology,
biological risk factors and genetic susceptibility
 Outline the psychosocial perspectives and epidemiology of illegal drugs of abuse
(cannabis, heroin, cocaine), their sources, symptoms of use, clinical impact and the
common “legal highs”
 Describe key features in the history (including the use of CAGE and FAST
questionnaires for alcohol) and key features in the examination findings that would
support the development of appropriate differential diagnoses of drug and alcohol
abuse
 Explain to the patient the risks of alcohol abuse (gastritis, pancreatitis, chronic liver
disease, seizures, hypertension) and drug abuse (infections – STDs, HIV, Hepatitis
B&C, lung abscess; injury – thrombophlebitis, DVT; overdose – rhabdomyolysis/renal
failure and respiratory failure) and brain abnormalities with alcohol and substance
abuse
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with drug and alcohol abuse (including their
interpretation)
 Understand the principles of management for substance / alcohol abuse and the
support available including neurological intervention and prevention strategies

26. Upper limb disorders

By the end of CCE 2 students should be able to:
 Explain the anatomy of the upper limb including the vascular and nerve supply
 Identify soft tissue, bony, nerve and vascular injuries including tendon injuries and
nerve compression
 identify common shoulder and elbow problems
 Take appropriate history from patients suffering from shoulder or elbow problems and
competently examine the shoulder and elbow joints eliciting important findings which
help differentiate between causes
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with an upper limb problem
 Describe the initial approach to the management of patients with shoulder and elbow
problems

29
CCE 3 Learning Outcomes
During CCE 3 the focus is on starting to develop management plans with patients

To do this effectively depends on having already

 Taken an effective history and examination, including ICE and biopsychosocial history
(CCE 1)
 Formed a sensible differential diagnosis (CCE 2)
 Considered appropriate investigations (CCE 2)

At the end of CCE 3 students should be able to:

1. Formulate and present a management plan including treatment, symptomatic
management and advice for a single diagnosis in a core clinical case and understand
how this may be altered in cases where there are co-morbidities.
2. Select appropriate forms of management for common and important conditions in the
presentation list
3. Explain in terms understandable by users of health services, the modes of action and
risks of various forms of management for common diseases (including surgical, medical,
radiotherapeutic, supportive, palliative) and the preventative approaches to common
diseases.
4. State how to assess pain using the WHO ladder
a. State the therapeutic steps available for effective analgesia, nausea and other
common symptoms often managed by FY1 and FY2 doctors
b. Assess past as well as current symptom control (particularly pain) and medication
use to determine effectiveness of different approaches
5. Explain appropriate forms of lifestyle management for common and important diseases
in terms understandable to health service users including when there is resistance to
change.
a. Select appropriate forms of lifestyle management for common and important
diseases
b. Identify skills that enhance behaviour change. Use reflective statements in clinical
and simulated environments. Demonstrate the ability to conduct a “Brief Intervention”
to encourage behaviour change.

30
Top Tips

Your management plans should take a holistic approach to the patient and their needs.
Using a bio-psycho-social approach can be helpful in providing a structure. Another
approach is to use a problem list. Consider different modalities of treatment: surgical,
medical, radiotherapeutic, supportive, palliative and preventative.

You need to know the drugs on the Year 2 drugs list. You will usually be asked by drug
class, of which you should be able to name an example, describe briefly the mechanism
of action and a couple of common side effects. You do NOT need to know doses at this
stage.

Management is not just about drugs. Think about other health professionals, social care,
family and care-givers who might be involved.

Practice your brief interventions on patients you see. Communicating the plan with
patients is key to concordance. Practice explaining to patients what their diagnosis is,
what their investigations and treatment may involve.

This is a useful article on management from the student BMJ

Detailed knowledge of guidelines is not required. NICE clinical knowledge summaries

provide a useful overview. You should know red flags which require urgent referral for
common cancers

31
CCE 3 Presentations

1. Abdominal distension 14. Dysuria / Haematuria

2. Acute joint pain and swelling 15. Groin / Scrotal swellings and pain
3. Anxiety, Phobias, OCD 16. Heart murmurs
4. Back pain and sciatica 17. Lower limb disorders
5. Bleeding from the GI tract 18. Neutropenic sepsis
6. Bleeding tendency / Hypercoagulability 19. Pain control (pharmacological/non-
7. Breathlessness (non-cardiac) pharmacological)
8. Chronic abdominal pain 20. Palpitations
9. Chronic headache 21. Pigmented skin lesions / Skin lumps
10. Chronic joint pain/swelling 22. Positive HIV Serology
(rheumatology) 23. Pruritis and Acute / Chronic rashes
11. Depression / Psychosis 24. Skin infections and skin ulcers
12. Dizziness and Vertigo 25. Urethral discharge / Genital ulcers and warts
13. Dysphagia 26. Urinary retention


The key learning outcomes will be:

 To take an adequate history and understand relevant differentials
 Carry out necessary examinations and investigations
 To understand basic management plans for such conditions
By the end of CCE 3 students should be able to:
1. Abdominal distension
By the end of CCE 3 students should be able to:
 Understand the physiology involved in abdominal distension and the mechanisms by
which ascites may occur
 Identify common and important causes of abdominal distension (6 F’s): Fat (obesity);
Flatus (obstruction, pseudo-obstruction); Faeces (obstruction); Fluid (ascites,
distended bladder), Foetus; and Functional (bloating e.g. IBS)
 Identify key features of the history and examination findings which would support the
development of appropriate differential diagnoses for abdominal distension
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with abdominal distension (including their
interpretation)
 Understand the principles of management for common and important differential
diagnoses

2. Acute joint pain and swelling

By the end of CCE 3 students should be able to:
 Understand joint anatomy and that swelling may arise from periarticular structures
(bursae, tendons, muscles) or the joint (synovitis, effusion) and may involve one or
more joints
32
  Identify common and important causes of acute joint pain and swelling including
periarticular conditions (bursitis, tendinopathies), septic arthritis, trauma
(haemarthrosis), crystal arthropathy (gout, pseudo-gout), reactive arthritis,
seronegative spondyloarthritides, and bone cancer / secondaries
 Identify key features of the history and examination findings which would support the
development of appropriate differential diagnoses for acute joint pain and swelling
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with acute joint pain and swelling including Xray,
USS, Bloods (WCC, ESR, CRP, ACPA), joint aspiration and their interpretation.
 Understand the principles of management for common and important differential
diagnoses

3. Anxiety, phobias, OCD

By the end of CCE 3 students should be able to:
 Understand the definitions of anxiety, phobias and OCD, epidemiology classifications
and their manifestations
 Identify common and important causes of anxiety, phobias and OCD
 Identify key features of the history (including risk factors) and examination findings
which would support the development of appropriate differential diagnoses for
anxiety, phobias and OCD
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations
would be appropriate to investigate a patient with anxiety, phobias and OCD
(including their interpretation)
 Understand the principles of management for anxiety, phobias and OCD including
the biopsychosocial model to manage generalised anxiety disorder

4. Back pain / Sciatica

By the end of CCE 3 students should be able to:
 Understand the anatomy of the spine and the mechanisms by which back pain and
radicular pain (sciatica) may occur
 Describe common and important causes of back pain including mechanical back
pain, disc herniation, lumbar spine stenosis, vertebral trauma/fracture,
spondyloarthritides (inflammatory), spinal tumour, spinal infection, spondylolisthesis
and cauda equine syndrome
 Identify key features of the history (including red flags) and examination findings
which would support the development of appropriate differential diagnoses for back
pain and sciatica
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with back pain and sciatica including Spine X-ray
/ MRI, Bloods (WCC, ESR, CRP), and their interpretation.
 Understand the principles of management for common and important differential
diagnoses including options for pain relief, physiotherapy, etc. in patients with
backpain

5. Bleeding from the GI Tract

By the end of CCE 3 students should be able to:
 Understand common causes of upper GI bleeding (peptic ulcer disease,
gastritis/duodenitis, malignancy, Mallory-Weiss tear, oesophageal varices) and
associated risk factors (e.g. NSAIDs and aspirin)
 Understand common causes of lower GI bleeding and associated risk factors
(diverticular disease, colorectal cancer, haemorrhoids, perianal disease,
inflammatory bowel disease)

33
  Describe key features of the history (including red flags) and examination findings
which would support the development of appropriate differential diagnoses for upper
and lower GI bleeding
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with upper and lower GI bleeding including upper
GI endoscopy, colonoscopy, CT angiography, H.Pylori testing (and their
interpretation)
 Explain the principles of management for common and important differential
diagnoses

6. Bleeding tendency / Hypercoagulability

By the end of CCE 3 students should be able to:
 Understand the clotting pathways and identify points in the pathways associated with
common bleeding and hyper-coagulation disorders
 Explain the inheritance of common genetic bleeding (e.g. hemophilia) and hyper-
coagulation disorders
 Describe key questions from the history and findings from the examination which
help differentiate between causes of bleeding or bruising
 Make an appropriate clinical assessment of a patient with suspected thrombo-
embolic disease, (including risk factors) and the scoring system used to evaluate risk
of thromboembolism (e.g. Wells score)
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with bleeding tendency (clotting screen,
coagulation factor assay, VWF antigen) and those that would help identify an
underlying cause for thrombo-embolism
 Explain the principles of management for common and important differential
diagnoses of bleeding tendencies
 Understand at which point in the pathway common anti-coagulant drugs work;
consider their risks, benefits and side effects

7. Breathlessness (non-cardiac)
By the end of CCE 3 students should be able to:
 Explain the pathophysiology of breathlessness as a mismatch between instructions
for ventilation sent by the brainstem and the sensory feedback from the thorax
 Describe the non-cardiac causes of acute breathlessness (epiglottitis, acute
bronchitis, acute asthmatic attack, pneumonia, ARDS, pneumothorax, PE) and
chronic breathlessness (asthma, COPD, pleural effusion, bronchiectasis, lung
cancer, interstitial lung disease, cystic fibrosis)
 Discuss key clinical features in the history and examination which may help develop
appropriate differential diagnoses for acute and chronic non-cardiac breathlessness
and the assessment of severity
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with breathlessness of non-cardiac origin such as
ABG, FBC, CXR, PEFR, Lung function test, ECG (including their interpretation)
 Explain the principles of management (drug and non-drug) for common respiratory
conditions (asthma, COPD, pneumonia, pulmonary embolism)

34
8. Chronic abdominal pain
By the end of CCE 3 students should be able to:
 Explain the innervation of the gut and abdominal organs
 Identify common and important causes of chronic abdominal pain (biliary colic,
peptic ulcer disease, chronic pancreatitis, constipation, inflammatory bowel disease,
chronic PID) as well as functional causes (non-ulcer dyspepsia, IBS)
 Describe key features of the history and examination findings which would support
the development of appropriate differential diagnoses for chronic abdominal pain
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with chronic abdominal pain including endoscopy,
LFT, USS, CT scan (and their interpretation)
 Understand the principles of management for common and important differential
diagnoses

9. Chronic headache
By the end of CCE 3 students should be able to:
 Understand common causes of chronic headache disorders (migraine, tension
headache, cluster headache, trigeminal neuralgia, medication / analgesic headache,
sinusitis)
 Describe key features of the history and presenting characteristics (including those
identifying red flags) which would support the development of appropriate differential
diagnoses for chronic headache
 Perform relevant examination (including neurological examination) and explain what
findings would support different causes of chronic headache
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with chronic headache including CT brain, MRI
and their interpretation
 Explain the initial management strategies for common and important differential
diagnoses

10. Chronic joint pain / swelling (rheumatological disorders)

By the end of CCE 3 students should be able to:
 Identify common and important causes of chronic joint pain and swelling including
rheumatoid arthritis (RA), osteoarthritis (OA), seronegative spondyloarthritides (e.g.
ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthropathy), crystal arthropathy (chronic tophaceous
gout), vasculitides (SLE), and systemic sclerosis
 Recognise rheumatoid arthritis and describe the immunological basis of rheumatoid
arthritis
 Identify key features of the history and examination findings which would support the
development of appropriate differential diagnoses including the medical signs and
multi-system manifestations of autoimmune processes (e.g. bowel, skin and eyes).
 Assess the severity of degenerative disease of the hip and knee
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with chronic joint pain and swelling including
autoantibodies (rheumatoid factor, anti-nuclear antibodies), joint aspiration and also
interpret the major radiological changes of OA (hip and knee), and of RA of the hand.
 Understand the principles of management including pain relief, drugs, physiotherapy
occupational therapy, rehabilitation and surgery

35
11. Depression / Psychosis
By the end of CCE 3 students should be able to:
 Understand that depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can
affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings, and sense of well-being. It is a broad
and heterogeneous diagnosis which has depressed mood and/or loss of pleasure in
most activities central to it.
 Understand that psychosis is a mental health problem that causes people to perceive
or interpret things differently from those around them. This might involve
hallucinations or delusions as well as disturbed, confused, disrupted patterns of
thought and lack of insight
 Explain the derangements in neurotransmitters in psychiatric illness
 Identify key features of the history, particularly screening questions that help
recognise people at risk of depression or psychosis and be aware of the social
stigma of mental illness
 Understand the criteria for diagnosis using the DSM-5 or ICD-10 classification
system (ICD-11 in 2018)
 Assess the risk to the individual and explore the severity of the disorder as
determined by the number and severity of symptoms, as well as the degree of
functional impairment.
 Describe what investigations would be useful to look for an organic cause for
psychiatric problems
 Understand the approach to the principles of management available including
medication, CBT, the social support and the long term effects of psychiatric illness on
physical health

12. Dizziness and vertigo

By the end of CCE 3 students should be able to:
 Explain vertigo as an illusory sensation of motion (usually spinning or rotatory)
 Describe common and important causes of vertigo (vestibular neuronitis, benign
paroxysmal positional vertigo, Meniere’s disease, acoustic neuroma, drug ototoxicity,
brainstem disorders) and dizziness (vasovagal attack, orthostatic hypotension,
brady/tachyarrhythmia, hypoglycaemia, partial seizure, migraine variants,
hyperventilation and anxiety)
 Identify the features of the history (including red flags) and examination relevant to
each of the common differential diagnoses
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with dizziness and vertigo (including blood
glucose, ECG, CT scan, MRI brain) and their interpretation
 Explain the principles of management for common and important differential
diagnoses

13. Dysphagia
By the end of CCE 3 students should be able to:
 Understand that swallowing difficulties may have neurological, muscular or structural
causes
 Understand important causes of dysphagia and the associated risk factors: benign
(e.g. gastro-oesophageal reflux, oesophageal web); malignant strictures; extrinsic
compression; motility disorders (e.g. scleroderma, achalasia); myasthenia gravis;
bulbar palsy
 Describe key features of the history (including red flags) and examination findings
which would support the development of appropriate differential diagnoses for
dysphagia

36
  Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with dysphagia including upper GI endoscopy,
oesophageal manometry, barium swallow, CT head and neck (and their
interpretation)
 Explain the approach to principles of management for common and important
differential diagnoses

14. Dysuria and Haematuria

By the end of CCE 3 students should be able to:
 Explain dysuria as pain during or immediately after passing urine (voiding pain) and
haematuria as presence of blood in the urine – visible (macroscopic) or non-visible
(microscopic)
 Describe common and important causes of dysuria (lower urinary tract infection,
inflammation – cystitis, urethritis) and haematuria (infection, tumours – renal/ bladder
cancers; stones – renal / ureteric; renal disease – Goodpasture’s syndrome, post-
streptococcal glomerulonephritis; trauma – kidney / urethra; iatrogenic –
catheterisation, prostate – BPH, cancer)
 Identify features of the history (including red flags) and examination relevant to each
of the common differential diagnoses including the possibility of urine contamination
from menstrual period and other causes of red urine (beetroot, rifampicin,
clofazimine)
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with dysuria and haematuria (including MSU,
cytology, USS KUB, cystoscopy, CT urogram) and their interpretation
 Explain the principles of management for common and important differential
diagnoses

15. Groin / Scrotal swellings and pain

By the end of CCE 3 students should be able to:
 Explain the anatomy and embryology of the inguinal canal and scrotum
 Identify common and important causes of groin swellings (hernias, lymph nodes),
scrotal swelling (inguinal hernia, hydrocoele, varicocoele, testicular tumours,
epididymal cyst), scrotal pain (testicular torsion, epidiymo-orchitis, strangulated
hernia) and their key clinical features
 Describe key features in the history and examination findings relating to groin and
scrotal swellings that would support the development of appropriate differential
diagnoses
 Describe what investigations would be appropriate to investigate a patient with groin /
scrotal swelling and pain (e.g. scrotal USS)
 Understand the principles of management for common and important differential
diagnoses

16. Heart murmurs

By the end of CCE 3 students should be able to:
 Explain the anatomy / physiology of the heart and the mechanisms which can cause
heart murmurs
 Appropriately categorise murmurs as systolic: ejection systolic murmurs (increased
flow, innocent murmurs from fever, pregnancy, ASD, severe anaemia,
aortic/pulmonary stenosis) and pansystolic murmurs (mitral / tricuspid regurgitation,
VSD) or diastolic (aortic regurgitation, pulmonary regurgitation and mitral stenosis)
 Describe common and important underlying causes of heart murmurs including
rheumatic heart disease, infective endocarditis, myocardial infarction with rupture of
papillary muscles, valve prolapse, calcific degeneration, congenital bicuspid valve,
37
 congenital aortic stenosis, aortic dilatation from syphilis, ankylosing spondylitis and
Marfan’s
 Identify the key features of the history and examination findings (including timing,
duration, nature, intensity, location, radiation and severity) for each murmur
 Assess the risk, severity of symptoms and the degree of functional impairment to the
individual
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with heart murmur (ECG, Echocardiogram, CXR)
and their interpretation
 Explain the principles of management for common and important heart murmurs

17. Lower limb disorders

By the end of CCE 3 students should be able to:
 Explain the anatomy of the lower limb including the vascular and nerve supply
 Identify soft tissue, bony, nerve and vascular injuries including tendon injuries and
nerve compression
 identify common hip and knee conditions
 Take appropriate history from patients suffering from hip and knee problems and
examine the hip and knee joints eliciting important findings which help differentiate
between causes
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with lower limb problem
 Describe the initial approach to the management of patients with hip and knee
problems

18. Neutropenic sepsis

By the end of CCE 3 students should be able to:
 Understand the diagnostic criteria for neutropenic sepsis in patients at risk (e.g.
anticancer treatment)
 Identify neutropenic sepsis as an acute medical emergency and undertake
appropriate initial clinical assessment including history and examination
 Describe what initial investigations would be appropriate to investigate a patient with
neutropenic sepsis (full blood count, kidney and liver function tests, C-reactive
protein, lactate and blood culture) and their interpretation
 Explain immediate management of neutropenic sepsis and its complications
including septic shock

19. Pain control (pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic)

By the end of CCE 3 students should be able to:
 Explain the pathophysiology of pain, including pain pathways
 Describe the WHO pain ladder
 Describe non-pharmacological interventions for pain relief and explain their
mechanisms of action
 Revise drug classes commonly used in the management of pain: their mechanisms
of action and common side effects (paracetamol, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory
drugs, opiates)
 Outline the principles of management of neuropathic pain
 Describe which analgesic approach would be most appropriate for common cases of
pain

38
20. Palpitations
By the end of CCE 3 students should be able to:
 Explain the anatomy / physiology of the heart and the mechanisms which can cause
palpitations
 Describe common and important underlying causes of palpitations: sinus tachycardia
(anxiety/panic, anaemia, thyrotoxicosis, fever, drugs – Beta2 agonists,
anticholinergics, amphetamines); Extrasystoles; SVT (Wolff-Parkinson-White
syndrome), Atrial arrhythmias – atrial tachycardia/flutter/fibrillation (ischaemic heart
disease, valvular heart disease, hypertension, alcohol excess); VT (previous MI,
cardiomyopathy)
 Identify key features of the history (including risk factors) and examination in a patient
with palpitations to generate appropriate differential diagnoses
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with palpitations to help confirm or refute
differentials (ECG, FBC, TFT, Echocardiogram, Electrolytes – K+, Mg2+, Ca2+) and
their interpretation
 Understand the principles of management for important causes of palpitations (SVT,
AF, VT)

21. Pigmented skin lesion / Skin lumps

By the end of CCE 3 students should be able to:
 Describe the anatomy of the skin and its three layers
 Describe skin lumps in terms of location and morphology – shape, pattern, colour /
pigmentation
 Identify common benign skin lumps including warts (verruca), seborrheic warts,
lipoma, ganglion cysts, keloids, dermatofibroma and naevi
 Describe the mechanisms by which ultra-violet light leads to the development of skin
malignancies
 Understand pre-malignant and malignant skin conditions, including basal cell
carcinoma, Bowen's disease (intra-epidermal carcinoma), squamous cell carcinoma
and malignant melanoma
 Identify the key features of the history (including red flags) and examination in a
patient with skin lump or pigmented lesion (Asymmetry, Border irregularity, Colour
variation, Diameter, Evolving) to generate appropriate differentials
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with skin lump or pigmented lesion
 Explain the principles of management for the common and important differential
diagnoses

22. Positive HIV serology

By the end of CCE 3 students should be able to:
 Understand the incubation period for HIV infection and the timing of serological tests
 Sensitively explain when pre- and post-test HIV counselling is appropriate
 Explain why detecting and diagnosing HIV early in the course of infection is
important: allows for early treatment that slows or stops progression to AIDS,
modification of behaviour to prevent the spread of disease, and in a pregnant
woman, treatment reduces the rate of transmission to her child
 Explain the immunological defects in AIDS and its manifestations (oral, glandular,
skin, lungs)
 Understand the principles of management for HIV / AIDS

39
23. Pruritus, Acute and Chronic Rashes
By the end of CCE 3 students should be able to:
 Understand causes of severe pruritus such as scabies, urticaria, eczema, insect
bites, dermatitis herpertiformis, lichen planus and generalised itching (renal, liver,
haematological)
 Describe a skin rash in a systematic way (site/distribution; morphology (shape,
pattern); configuration (linear, grouped, annular) and duration of onset (acute or
chronic)
 Describe causes of acute skin rashes including erythroderma, dermatitis (contact,
atopic seborrheic), drug eruptions, toxic epidermal necrolysis, Stevens-Johnson
syndrome, urticarial, infective (e.g. herpes, varicella, impetigo), and purpuric
(meningococcal, septic emboli)
 Describe causes of chronic skin rashes including acne vulgaris, lichen planus,
eczema, psoriasis, seborrhoeic wart, infective – fungal (tinea versicolor, Tricophyton
– athletes foot), TB (lupus vulgaris), and vasculitis
 Identify the key features of the history (including occupational/other risk factors) and
examination in a patient with pruritus or skin rash to generate appropriate differentials
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with pruritus and rash including FBC, LFT, RFT,
patch testing, skin scraping for microscopy/culture and serology for autoimmune
disease/eczema
 Describe the principles of management of common skin problems such as eczema
and psoriasis

24. Skin infections and skin ulcers

By the end of CCE 3 students should be able to:
 Understand the aetiology of and risk factors for the development of venous, arterial
and neuropathic ulcers
 Identify risk factors for the development of pressure sores and how they can be
prevented
 Recognise viral skin infections (e.g. viral warts, molluscum contagiosum, herpes
simplex / zoster); bacterial infections (e.g. folliculitis, impetigo, streptococcal cellulitis)
and fungal infections (e.g. candida, tinea and pityriasis versicolor)
 Describe key features of the history and examination in a patient with skin infection or
ulcer that would support the development of appropriate differentials
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate skin infections and ulcers
 Describe the principles of management for the common types of skin infection and
ulcer

25. Urethral discharge / Genital ulcers and warts

By the end of CCE 3 students should be able to:
 Understand common and important causes of genital discharge (chlamydia,
gonorrhoea, candida, bacterial vaginosis, trichomonas vaginalis) and genital ulcers
(herpes, syphilis, reactive arthritis)
 Describe key questions from the history (including genito-urinary / sexual history) and
findings from the examination which help differentiate between causes
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with genital discharge and ulcer
 Describe the approach to management of patients with genital discharge or ulcer
including contact tracing and ways of limiting the spread of infection

40
26. Urinary retention
By the end of CCE 3 students should be able to:
 Explain the mechanisms by which urinary retention occurs: obstruction of the urethra,
weakened bladder muscle and innervation problem.
 Understand common and important causes of urinary retention including BPH,
urethral stricture, medication (e.g. anticholinergics, tricyclic antidepressants, calcium
channel blocker), damage to the nervous system (e.g. Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis
and Alzheimer’s disease). In women consider large cystocele, pregnancy, fibroid or
ovarian cyst obstructing the urethra.
 Describe key questions from the history and findings from the examination which
help differentiate between various causes
 Describe what bedside, clinical, laboratory and radiological investigations would be
appropriate to investigate a patient with urinary retention
 Describe the initial approach to management of a patient with urinary retention.

41
 Learning Outcomes for GP Days in CCE

1. Apply to medical practice biomedical scientific principles, method and

knowledge
By the end of CCE students should be able to:
 Explain normal human structure and functions
 Explain the importance of a healthy diet and lifestyle to real or simulated patients
both in maintaining health and in particular illness states
 Select appropriate forms of management for common diseases, and ways of
preventing common diseases, and explain their modes of action and their risks from
first principles
 Explain the modes of action and risks of forms of management for common diseases
and ways of preventing common diseases including surgical, medical,
radiotherapeutic, supportive, palliative and preventative approaches in terms
understandable by users of health services.
 Explain a plan of management in terms understandable by a health service user.
 Select appropriate forms of management relating to typical presentations of common
and important conditions bearing in mind clinical data and patient perspective.
 Demonstrate how to implement appropriate risk reduction strategies for common
diseases in individual patients.
 Make accurate observations of clinical phenomena and appropriate critical analysis
of clinical data
 Demonstrate reaching relevant and useful conclusions about a patient’s general
health and progress during common illnesses or treatment using routine clinical data
in real or simulated patients
 Summarise clinical observations for real and simulated patient cases
 Synthesise the results of history taking and examination together with results of tests
in order to generate a working diagnosis and request further tests if needed.
 Accurately present the results of history taking and examination in a succinct but
comprehensive way including when necessary the ability to prioritise the most
clinically relevant data.
 Carry out a competent history and examination of a real or simulated patient
including the accurate observation and recording of signs and symptoms.

2. Apply psychological principles, method and knowledge to medical practice

By the end of CCE students should be able to:
 Discuss psychological concepts of health, illness and disease
 Formulate and manage the psychological components of a bio-psycho-social
formulation for any individual patient's physical or mental illness
 Relate how psychological factors affect the prognosis in long-term physical illness,
stress and depression in real or simulated patient cases.

3. Apply social science principles, method and knowledge to medical practice

By the end of CCE students should be able to:
 Explain normal human behaviour at a societal level
 Recognise the diversity of patient experiences (social and emotional aspects) and
behaviour in relation to living with common health conditions
 Discuss sociological concepts of health, illness and disease
 Use knowledge of individual patients lay beliefs in the planning of a management
plan
 Discuss lay beliefs with patients

42
  Elicit and distinguish lay beliefs when talking to simulated or real patients.
 Recognise the importance of listening to and understanding patients’ lay
beliefs/knowledge and the shift towards the patient as ‘expert’
 Recognise how doctor-patient relationships are affected by social forces and change
over time.
 Identify the importance of patients’ perspectives on illness and disability and the
relevance of this to clinical practice

4. Carry out a consultation with a patient

By the end of CCE students should be able to:
 Take and record a patient's medical history, including family and social history,
talking to relatives or other carers where appropriate
 Demonstrate the skills of a person-centred interview in an active clinical environment
 Practice history taking involving a third party in a controlled clinical environment
 Observe and review triadic consultations in routine clinical practice
 Elicit patient's questions, their understanding of their condition and treatment options,
and their views, concerns, values and preferences
 Demonstrate the skills of seeking questions and checking patient understanding in an
active clinical environment
 Demonstrate the skills of seeking questions and checking patient understanding in a
controlled clinical teaching environment
 Perform a full physical examination. State the elements of a full clinical examination
including the overall structure and steps involved in examining each system
 Demonstrate a structured approach to examining patients in simulated and real
clinical environments
 Apply appropriate strategies to complete necessary examination in those with
sensory or mobility problems and in those who have impaired understanding
 Demonstrate ability to communicate appropriately with patient while performing a
physical examination; to explain what is going to be done; reassure during
performance; continual observance of patient's non-verbal and verbal cues during
examination
 Demonstrate a structured approach to examining the child including observation,
palpation and auscultation
 Provide explanation, advice, reassurance and support
 Demonstrate skills in providing explanation in language and at a pace appropriate to
patient; checking understanding; awareness of importance of follow-up plan and
provision of contact details for appropriate support

5. Diagnose and manage clinical presentations

By the end of CCE students should be able to:
 Interpret findings from the history, physical examination and mental-state
examination, appreciating the importance of clinical, psychological, spiritual,
religious, social and cultural factors
 Make an initial assessment of a patient's problems and differential diagnosis.
Understand the processes by which doctors make and test differential diagnosis
 Present a series of clinical cases that demonstrate an integrated and efficient
process for making an initial assessment of a patient's presentation
 Outline the hypothetico-deductive and pattern recognition methods of arriving at the
likely clinical diagnoses with a consideration of important differential diagnoses with a
particular emphasis on not missing potentially serious or life-threatening conditions
 Synthesise a full assessment of the patient's problems and define the likely diagnosis

43
  Present a comprehensive assessment of a patient’s clinical problem in real clinical
scenarios having obtained a full clinical history and performed a relevant detailed
clinical examination including the likely clinical diagnoses and important differential
diagnoses
 Make clinical judgements and decisions, based on the available evidence, in
conjunction with colleagues and as appropriate for the student’s level of training and
experience. This may include situations of uncertainty
 Present a list of clinical judgements and decisions in relation to a series of real
clinical cases together with an outline of how the judgements and decisions were
arrived at. This would include an assessment of the certainty and uncertainty for
each diagnosis.
 Support patients in caring for themselves
 Demonstrate that a treatment plan has been explained to a patient with special
emphasis on self-management. This would be to manage current conditions and
prevent future Long Term Conditions and other co-morbidities where an evidence
base exists

6. Communicate effectively with patients and colleagues in a medical context

By the end of CCE students should be able to:
 Communicate clearly, sensitively and effectively with patients, their relatives or other
carers, and colleagues from the medical and other professions, by listening, sharing
and responding.
 Demonstrate the skills needed to conduct a triadic consultation e.g. with carers etc.
 Communicate by spoken, written and electronic methods (including medical records)
and be aware of other methods of communication used by patients. The student
should appreciate the significance of non-verbal communication in the medical
consultation.
 Communicate appropriately in difficult circumstances, such as when breaking bad
news, and when discussing sensitive issues, such as alcohol consumption, smoking
or obesity.
 Demonstrate with a simulated patient or in a clinical setting a lifestyle/behaviour
change/health promotion intervention
 Assess the impact of alcohol and drug consumption using appropriate frameworks
such as CAGE and FRAME.

7. Prescribe drugs safely, effectively and economically

 By the end of CCE students should be able to:
 Provide patients with appropriate information about their medicines.
 Demonstrate informing real or simulated patients about how to take their medicines
including the use of common delivery devices such as inhalers
 Discuss the benefits and risks of drug therapy with patients with real or simulated
patients
 Reach a shared decision with a real or simulated patient about his or her treatment
taking into account clinical information, best evidence, and the wishes, values and
preferences of the patient.
 Identify measures to improve poor adherence whether intentional or unintentional
 Make an accurate assessment of adherence to medication as part of a medical
history

44
8. Use information effectively in a medical context
By the end of CCE students should be able to:
 Specify the data required for a specified research purpose and show how to collect,
analyse, interpret and present it for a range of purposes including audit and service
development

9. Reflect, learn and teach others

By the end of CCE students should be able to:
 Continually and systematically reflect on practice and, whenever necessary, translate
that reflection into action, using improvement techniques and audit appropriately ‚ for
example, by critically appraising the prescribing of others
 Complete an appropriate element of a clinical audit

10. Learn and work effectively within a multi-professional team

By the end of CCE students should be able to:
 Understand and respect the roles and expertise of health and social care professionals
in the context of working and learning as a multi-professional team
 Describe the basic roles of key health and social care professionals involved in a
person's care in primary care and community settings. (HV, DN, GP, practice nurse,
social care worker).

11. Protect patients and improve care

By the end of CCE students should be able to:
 Understand and have experience of the principles and methods of improvement,
including audit, adverse incident reporting and quality improvement, and how to use the
results of audit to improve practice.
 Understand the use of the audit as a tool to monitor/improve performance in compliance
with local and national guidelines
 Develop a worked example of audit including recommendations for change in practice
 Describe common approaches used in clinical practice to assure and improve quality -
including audit and adverse incident reporting
 Evaluate the success of an audit scenario
 Complete an appropriate element of a clinical audit

45
 Learning Outcomes for Community Learning (Non-GP)

CCE1 - Community
 Evaluate and apply epidemiological data in managing healthcare for the individual and
the community
 Explain one framework for a health needs assessment
 Plan a health needs assessment for a population
 Find, understand and interpret routine information relating to health, ill health and health
care in a specified population
 Apply knowledge of core models of health behaviours, illness behaviours and behaviour
 Identify skills that enhance behaviour change. Use reflective statements in clinical and
simulated environments
 To gain the knowledge and skills to deliver brief interventions (smoking and alcohol)
 To practice skills to deliver brief interventions (smoking and alcohol)
 To become familiar with the organisation of the placement and relevant Trust policies
 Identify individual learning outcomes to be accomplished during the practice placement

CCE2 - Community
 Be able to define Clinical Audit
 Describe the Clinical Audit Cycle
 Outline the role of clinical audit in quality improvement
 Outline the importance of action planning in ensuring that audit recommendations are
implemented
 Define learning disability
 State how learning disability is diagnosed
 Outline the physical and mental health needs of patients with learning disability
 Identify the communication needs of patients with learning disability
 Identify issues of mental capacity and the socio-legal issues that may arise in relation to
patients with learning disability
 Carry out an interview with a patient to find out about their experiences of living with
his/her condition/impairment
 Identify the patient’s views on the medical and other care s/he receives
 Identify the role of health and social care professionals involved with the care the patient
 Identify the patient’s journey through the care delivery system, from identification of
impairment/condition until now
 Demonstrate respect and non-judgemental attitudes to patients, peers and tutors
 Work effectively with peers
 Outline the patient’s perspective on living with his/her condition/impairment
 Describe the psychological and social impacts on the patient and family/significant others
 Identify factors (+ve and –ve) impacting on the patient’s quality of life and social
participation
 Describe the patient journey through the care delivery system, from identification of
impairment/condition until now
 Identifies the patient’s views on the medical and other care he receives
 Demonstrate knowledge of clinical guidelines or care pathways relevant to the patient (if
applicable)
 Identify any treatment and care management issues and how these can be addressed

46
 Demonstrate respect and non-judgemental attitudes to patients, peers and tutors
 Discuss the importance of teamwork and have an appreciation of skills of different
disciplines and importance of transitions across organisational boundaries
 Outlines and discusses the role of the wider multi-disciplinary team in relation to the care
of patients with long-term conditions and those who are disabled
 Identify a range of services available to patients with long-term conditions and those who
are disabled

CCE3 - Community

 Define the following terms; palliative care; end of life care; life-limiting illness; terminal
illness
 Identify the importance of patients’ priorities and preferences for the end of life
 Outline palliative care as a generic skill and the duty of all health care professionals,
including junior doctors
 Describe integration of palliative care with active treatment; understand the scope of
palliative care in relation to conditions other than cancer
 State the range of services available in end of life care
 Identify when specialist palliative care services should be involved.
 Show awareness of the different presentation, natural history and management of;
cancer, dementia, progressive neurological, respiratory, cardiac, renal, chronic frailty and
other life-limiting conditions.
 Identify a range of “dying trajectories” and the significance of transition points.
 Be able to recognise a dying patient and the need to refocus care provision.
 Identify the uncertainties in end of life care, particularly in non-malignant disease.
 Explain the concept of allowing “natural death”.
 Identify the key elements of the discharge planning process
 Identify key professionals involved in discharge planning
 Explain the importance of effective discharge planning in reducing readmission to
hospital
 Identify some key professionals involved in the interdisciplinary care of patients
discharged from hospital
 Explain the importance of safe and timely discharge planning and preventing discharge
delay
 Explain the NHS Continuing Care process
 Carry out an interview with a patient to find out about their experiences of living with
his/her condition/impairment
 Identify the patient’s views on the medical and other care he receives
 Identify the role of health and social care professionals involved with the care the patient
 Identify the patient’s journey through the care delivery system, from identification of
impairment/condition until now
 Demonstrate respect and non-judgemental attitudes to patients, peers and tutors
 Work effectively with peers
 Outline the patient’s perspective on living with his/her condition/impairment
 Describe the psychological and social impacts on the patient and family/significant others
 Identify factors (+ve and –ve) impacting on the patient’s quality of life and social
participation
 Describe the patient journey through the care delivery system, from identification of
impairment/condition until now
 Identifies the patient’s views on the medical and other care he receives

47
 Demonstrate knowledge of clinical guidelines or care pathways relevant to the patient (if
applicable)
 Identify any treatment and care management issues and how these can be addressed
 Demonstrate respect and non-judgemental attitudes to patients, peers and tutors
 Discuss the importance of teamwork and have an appreciation of skills of different
disciplines and importance of transitions across organisational boundaries
 Outlines and discusses the role of the wider multi-disciplinary team in relation to the care
of patients with long-term and life-limiting conditions
 Identify a range of services available to patients with long-term and life-limiting conditions

48