Becoming a GP Teacher

There has never been a more important time to influence the future of General Practice.

The Undergraduate Primary Care Education Unit provides training and refresher courses for GP tutors. We are always looking for enthusiastic GPs to teach our students. Our courses are free for existing tutors or those who commit to teaching our students in future.

The majority of teaching options involve hosting medical students within a GP Practice setting. To read more about our placements please see the Undergraduate Primary Care Placements page.

If you are interested in becoming an approved teacher, the first step is to complete a short expression of interest form. If appropriate, we will then ask for further details about your professional background, teaching experience and practice setting. Attendance at our teacher training course is a mandatory requirement prior to supervising students. This course will help to prepare you for teaching. We may also arrange a practice visit to discuss your teaching experience and the learning environment in the Practice. Once approved as a GP tutor, you will be able to host Imperial College London medical students for their GP placements.

Professional development for GP teachers

TaCTIC (Training Course for Teachers at Imperial College)

This interactive 4-hour online course offers a mix of educational theory and practical guidance to support you to develop your teaching skills in practice.

The course is open to all GPs, trainees and other healthcare professionals who are teaching our Imperial undergraduate medical students in a community or primary care setting. The course is mandatory for those intending to teach Imperial medical students.

After watching the pre-course video, you can further develop your teaching skills more formally by booking onto one of our TaCTIC course dates.

• Wednesday, 12th November 2025 - 9am-1pm - This course is now fully booked
• Wednesday, 28th January 2026 - 9am-1pm - This course is now fully booked
• Wednesday, 18th March 2026 - 9am-1pm - Reserve your spot here
• Wednesday, 6th May 2026 - 9am-1pm - Reserve your spot here

Advanced Skills for Teachers at Imperial College (ASTIC)

Existing Imperial GP tutors can keep up-to-date with current teaching approaches and connect with a community of educators through our free Additional Skills courses.

• Making Every Teaching Moment Count: This interactive face-to-face workshop is designed to enhance GP tutors' confidence and skills delivering high-quality teaching even when time is limited during a busy clinical day.  
  Drawing on authentic scenarios and student feedback, participants will learn how to:  
  • Identify and make the most of “teachable moments” during clinical encounters 
  • Have effective and constructive feedback conversations
  • Adapt teaching approaches for learners at different stages of training 

Through reflection, discussion, and peer-sharing, participants will have the opportunity to reflect on their own experiences of teaching in practice and exchange ideas for overcoming common challenges. The workshop will provide a range of practical tools and techniques to enrich day-to-day teaching and signpost to additional resources to further support tutors in making every teaching moment count. 

• • Wednesday, 4th February 2026 - 1.30-4.30pm at our campus in White City (School of Public Health building) - Reserve your spot here

Online coaching skills courses

We have two freely accessible online courses (MOOCs) on coaching skills.

Coaching Skills for Learner-Centred Conversations is a short course on the EdX platform that explores how you can use solution-oriented coaching skills and approaches in an education context to hold more empowering conversations with learners.

Health Coaching Conversations is a short course on the Coursera platform that explores key principles and skills of health coaching and how you can use these to enable more person-centred conversations, empowering patients to identify and work towards their health and wellbeing goals.