ST1 in a hospital post can feel like you are training for the wrong specialty. The ward rounds, the on-calls, the hospital-specific protocols — none of it feels like general practice. But ST1 hospital posts build the core medical knowledge that underpins both the AKT and your clinical practice as a GP. The conditions you see on acute medical takes, surgical admissions, and paediatric wards are the same conditions your future patients will present with — just at a different point in their journey.
Knowledge Building
iatroX adaptive quiz (free). Start building your AKT knowledge base from ST1. The adaptive engine identifies your weak clinical areas early — so AKT revision in ST2/ST3 is targeted rather than starting from scratch. Free, UK-specific, and the same platform you will use throughout training.
Passmedicine. If you plan to sit the AKT in ST2 (many trainees do), starting Passmedicine in late ST1 gives you a 6-12 month runway. The Knowledge Tutor spaced repetition consolidates knowledge over time.
AMBOSS. Genuinely useful during hospital posts — the pathophysiology depth helps you understand the conditions you are managing on the ward. Less relevant once you move to primary care, but valuable during ST1.
Clinical Reference for Ward Work
BNF app (free for NHS). Essential from day one. Install before your first on-call.
NICE guidelines. Relevant to both hospital and primary care — building the NICE habit in ST1 pays off throughout training.
Hospital-specific protocols. Your trust intranet and local guidelines. These are not exam resources but they are survival resources.
Portfolio
Start FourteenFish learning log entries from day one. Reflect on hospital encounters through a GP lens — "this patient presented with chest pain on AMU; in primary care, I would need to differentiate between cardiac and MSK causes without immediate troponin access." These reflections demonstrate GP-relevant learning from hospital placements.
Do not wait until ST2 to start your portfolio. The trainees who update contemporaneously throughout ST1 have significantly less portfolio stress at ARCP than those who try to backfill.
What to Defer
SCA preparation is premature in ST1 — you are not yet consulting independently in primary care. Focus on clinical foundations. SCA-specific tools (Clinitalk, MedTutor, SCA Revision) become relevant from mid-ST2 onwards.
Where iatroX Fits
ST1 is when knowledge foundations are built. iatroX's adaptive quiz starts identifying your weak areas now — compound the learning over 2-3 years rather than cramming before the AKT.