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 Why General Practice...?
The General Practitioner has been defined as "a licensed medical
graduate who gives personal, primary and continuing care to individuals,
families and the practice population, irrespective of age, sex, or
illness".
The modern GP works in a team consisting of associated professionals
and management staff - nurses, health visitors, midwives, administrators
and managers. In some practices physiotherapists, dieticians, counsellors
or complementary therapists may also be available.
The professional life of a GP is varied and dependant upon a high level
of communication skills and clinical challenges. It is distinctly
different from hospital life. Social and psychological factors weigh
heavily in the diagnostic approach of the general practitioner. The GP
helps patients with early symptoms of illness as well as those with
chronic illness and GPs must be skilled in the long term management of a
large variety of physical and psychiatric problems. It is the wide mix of
general practice that it is one of its major attractions. No other specialty
offers such a wide remit of treating everything from pregnant
women to babies and from mental illness to sports medicine. General
Practice also provides an opportunity to prevent illness and not just
treat it.
There are lots of opportunities for graduate GPs to work full-time,
part-time with flexible arrangements and special interests with varied
portfolios. Therefore, the training programme for GP training is
specifically designed to meet the needs of the future. Training standards
are high and there is continuous review and development of the training
programme to ensure that doctors in training are equipped for their future
working life.
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Why
general practice?