FCP placements

Exposing students to FCP through effective placements

We are a new physiotherapy teaching team who challenge ourselves to create innovative high quality clinical placements to develop future physiotherapists. 

We share our passion with local clinicians from a host of areas including secondary and primary care. 

Recently, we teamed up with an amazing physio, Krystian Dawiec, a first contact practitioner who worked for the forward-thinking Wellington Medical Practice to create a first contact practitioner (FCP) experience for undergraduates.

Dr Navneet Singh and Dr Derrick Ebenezer at the Wellington describe their practice model as ‘GP light’ with much of the service being delivered by allied health professionals.

Together we created a FCP undergraduate clinical placement to help expose our students to this rapidly emerging area. In addition to our normal study programme, we used the e-learning for health online course and bespoke sessions delivered by the practice to prepare students for the placement. 

Each placement block supported two students with time spent with many different members of the practice team. During this process, we were surprised to find that FCP roles were considered by very few students on our programme. 

In contrast, students who had completed the FCP placements were likely to indicate that FCP roles were ones that they would prefer to occupy in future. 

Similarly, GPs involved with the placements are excited to bring physiotherapists and our much-needed skills to the frontline of care.

Now, based on our knowledge and experience in this area we have developed an FCP postgraduate course to support current physios to take advantage of these new posts and bring their much-needed skills to primary care.

University of Wolverhampton’s FCP project video

• Troy Douglin, physiotherapy course lead, University of Wolverhampton