Our teaching staff and clinical tutors are responsible for the delivery of GP teaching and assessment to students on the medical undergraduate programme. This includes the provision of GP clinical placements for medical students in Cork and Kerry. We also teach on the BSc in Public Health, Nurse/Midwife Prescriber course and the Masters in Health Professions Education.  We also provide standalone CPD courses on chronic disease management for GPs and primary care clinicians. 

Undergraduate Medical Students

The Department of General Practice contributes to both of the UCC undergraduate medical programmes - the 5-year Direct Entry (DEM) programme primarily for school-leaver students and a 4-year Graduate Entry Programme (GEM), with Departmental staff teaching on each of the 4 or 5 years of the programme.  

Medical students at UCC spend considerable time in General Practice placements which are coordinated through the Department of General Practice, in a number of carefully-chosen urban and rural practices. Students work closely with their GP teacher, and become experienced in consultation, examination and communication skills, in addition to gaining insight into how illness affects patients, their families and society.

For second year medical students, the Department of General Practice in conjunction with local GP practices, coordinates the Family Attachment Scheme which puts medical students in contact with a family one of whose members has a long term health problem.

All current students should access student specific placement information via Canvas. The UCC School of Medicine provides a comprehensive range of information and links for current medical students, including timetabling information, student support and medical societies information.

Any queries regarding your GP rotation and/or GP clinical placements should be directed in the first instance to GP departmental administrators Eilis Murphy/Miriam Maume via email: GP@ucc.ie or by telephone +353 (0) 21 490 1572. 

The Department will consider and prioritise requests for supervision of research projects.  These should be made in writing to the GP departmental administrators as above, and you should include your area of research interest and brief CV.  Further information on the research activities and areas of expertise of the Departmental staff are included on our Research webpage.

The Department office is Room 2.41 in Western Gateway Building. 

GP Specialist Training

For medical postgraduate students who wish to pursue their career in General Practice, the ICGP provides a national integrated four year postgraduate training programme, and the Cork branch of the scheme is led by Dr Sheila Rochford, and includes 40 GP trainers in practices across the County.  The first two years are spent in hospital based posts; the third and fourth registrar years are spent in accredited training practices.

More information about the ICGP Specialist Training Programme is available on the ICGP website  

Postgraduate Education and CPD

Our postgraduate programmes are specifically designed to suit the busy GP or primary care healthcare professional. We provide a supportive learning environment and a range of educational opportunities for postgraduates whether they are registered for a PhD/MD, hold a Fellowship, or are enrolled on any of our CPD modules and short courses. 

For more information about any of our CPD courses, events or modules, or to apply for a place, please contact the GP Department directly.