In most cases, it is not possible (or safe) for you to practice your skills on real patients straight away. For many procedural skills, there are commercial kits and even dummy models available for you to practice your skills on initially, before you try with real people.

The "see one, do one, teach one" approach is a widely used method for developing medical students’ practical skills. The approach involves three key steps: watching an experienced healthcare provider perform a procedure (see one), practicing the procedure under supervision (do one), and then teaching the procedure to someone else (teach one). This is a practical way for you to gain hands-on experience.

It may seem like the ward round is the most important part of being on the ward - seeing the patients, understanding their cases, finding out management plans and writing notes. However, the time after the ward round is when you’ll really have the opportunity to practice your clinical skills.

If you stick around and show that you’re interested, there will be plenty of opportunities to take blood, insert cannulae and watch advanced procedures like lumbar punctures or bone marrow biopsies. On rural rotations or in the emergency department, you may also get a chance to try procedures like suturing.

The opportunities for procedural practice on different wards vary, and so it is important to find out what opportunities are typically available for medical students on the rotation you’re currently on.

While you may feel immediately confident with performing a procedure, this is not always the case. As practical skills become more complicated, they often become more difficult to master. In order to build your confidence, there are several advanced approaches you can use.

Learning a skill in multiple different ways has been proven to improve competence. A study from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine found that learning a modified version of a skill resulted in better overall performance when compared to repeated practice with the same skill.

For example, you might try a slightly different suturing method, cannulating both by palpation and ultrasound, or a lumbar puncture in both the sitting and left lateral position. By altering your technique and learning it in a different way, you can start to understand the underpinning principles behind it rather than simply the mechanical steps involved.

Learning several different approaches to a procedure can improve your flexibility, and is much more useful than simply practicing the same skill over and over again.

Working with a coach or mentor can be incredibly valuable for improving your clinical skills. This is true not only for learning a skill for the first time, but also in mastering a skill and even taking it to the next level. A coach can provide you with personalised guidance to help you to refine your technique.

Many great surgeons have coaches or mentors; these may be superiors or colleagues who they are able to bounce ideas off of, plan procedures, and debrief following procedures.

If you’re struggling with learning a new skill or looking to improve it, consider approaching someone you trust to provide you with feedback and support. An example would be asking a doctor on the ward to give you pointers while you’re inserting a cannula. You’ll be surprised how much this can help you to identify issues with your technique, and get past learning block!

While medical school is a great time to gain experience with procedures, it’s equally important to known your limitations and practice within your scope of competence.

Some procedures, such as catheterisation, lumbar punctures, pleural taps and intubation, should not be performed without approval and supervision from a senior colleague. These procedures can be complex and carry significant risks, and it's important for medical students to recognize when it's safe to perform a given procedure, and when it’s not.

You may find that you have more opportunities to perform procedures in rural or regional areas which have higher workloads, but it’s important to prioritise safety and so when you’re not comfortable, never hesitate to ask for guidance or help.

Practical skills are an essential component of your medical education, and there are several ways to jumpstart your procedural learning. By practicing on mannequins, you can build your confidence and competence with real patients. By being present on the ward, you can create opportunities to “see one, do one, teach one” and practice your skills. Through coaching and learning procedures via different methods, you will be well on the way to technical mastery.

If you’d like to learn more about how to perform procedures, please consider checking out the interventions section of the MedSchool website and app. We provide detailed guides to performing procedures such as airway management, infection, cannulation, arterial blood gasts, urinary catheterisation and lumbar punctures. The guides are designed to be easy to follow with checklists, tips for troubleshooting and approaches to complications.