The Benefits Of A Career In General Practice | General Practitioner | GP

In this video I explain why you should consider a career as a GP by discussing the benefits of a career in general practice.

There are many benefits to being a GP and I list just SOME of the benefits of a career in general practice below (including timestamps):

2:22 Career autonomy
You have much more control as a GP to decide what you want your career and working week to look like. One of the stand out benefits of a career in general practice is deciding when, where and how long you want to work rather than being assigned a rota and told the above. This can significantly affect your ability to have a good work life balance.

3:24 Portfolio career
It is much easier to develop a career with multiple interests as a GP than as a (junior) doctor in the hospital. I work 2.5 days a week and I am therefore able to do other things as a result. This is one of the key benefits of a career in general practice for me.

3:50 Being STATIONARY
As a junior doctor you are constantly moving around and forming new professional relationships. Whilst this can be seen as a positive it can also be draining both mentally and physically. Although once you gain your CCT you can 'settle down' somewhere I would rather do that earlier rather than later on in my life.

4:56 Getting to know your patients/seeing them over a long period of time and 5:41 long term doctor-patient relationship
Another one of the benefits of a career in general practice is really knowing your patients over years rather then seeing them in A&E once and not seeing them ever again. Even in outpatient clinics patients are usually discharged back to their GP at some point.

5:53 Medical variety and 6:05 It is a great place to learn about loads of different things!
As a GP you see a number of different medical conditions which means it is not a boring job! We treat acute and chronic medical conditions. We may have to send patients to hospital either as an emergency/ambulatory or in the form of a referral (routine, urgent or very urgent/2 week wait).

7:13 Working opportunities and 7:41 You can learn about business
You can work as a locum, salaried or GP partner. You can learn about the financial aspects to running a business for example.

7:50 Medical education 8:29 Medical education
You can teach GP trainees and medical students too. This is yet another great benefit of being a general practitioner. You can be a GP with a specialist interest and run specialist clinics. You can undertake Quality Improvement Projects (QIPs), audits and partake in regular educational meetings for GPs.

9:10 The patient's first place they go to when they need help
Patients seek help from GPs for a number of different things such as work circumstances to housing issues. We can direct them to specialist services, charities and helplines to help them when they need it. This is definitely one of the benefits of a career in general practice.

9:38 HOLISTIC CARE and 10:16 patient-centered care
A key benefit of general practice is being able to treat the patient as a whole rather than as a medical condition. We endeavour to work with the patient formulating shared care and tailored management plans.

10:44 Working in a close nit team, 10:53 MDT working
As a doctor in training you are always having to move around and form new relationships with colleagues. Whilst this is good to develop interpersonal and communication skills for example it also means that you may lose touch with people you may have got on really well with. I enjoy the fact that I get to know my staff and patients really well in addition to the surrounding community and services. One of the other benefits of a career in general practice is the cohesion between teams which may be better than in the hospital.

Where do I get my medical supplies from?

#generalpractice #generalpractitioner #medicalcareers

[RhesusMedicine]

Thanks Dr Baptiste! I enjoyed the time I've spent with the GPs, has a different feel to Medicine in the hospital for sure.

[christerfaakuse]

So informative!discovered you today and I've been bingeing your videos for an hour now!love the content...please keep the good work going👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

[TheWorldwideMedic]

Really interesting take! Also, the timestamps are really useful, I think you just need to remove the colon after the number and Youtube will automatically make a hyperlink to the video.

[DrErwinKwun]

Great video Dr Baptiste, GP is a career with endless opportunities. The current system where junior doctors have to move to new locations during training can feel isolating and lonely. Being in GP training, I'm grateful not having to move city every year.

[mejustbeingnormal]

Thank you ! Just discovered your channel and am loving it already 💞

[taryn]

Hi Dr Bpatise I have also like the many below just discovered your content. Can i ask which london rotation of GP practice did you finally get into? thanks

[LeahRebecca]

wow really appreciate your honesty! great video

[eib]

Thank you Dr. B. Throughly enjoyed it. Thank you once again. Brilliantly, put together. Well done!!
Do keep up the good work. God bless you 🙏

[justjoseph]

Look forward to watching this one after my shift!

[AH-lezp]

A great insight and taking a year out sounds like a good idea