GP (General Practitioner)
General practitioners (GPs) are doctors who provide medical services to people in their local community.
Day-to-day tasks
In this role you could:
- give general health advice to patients in person or on the phone
- diagnose patients' symptoms and refer to specialist consultants if needed
- prescribe medicines, recommend treatments and carry out minor surgery
- do research and help to train other healthcare professionals
- organise and lead clinics for specific groups of patients or medical conditions
Skills and knowledge
You'll need:
- knowledge of medicine
- science skills
- knowledge of psychology
- counselling skills including active listening and a non-judgemental approach
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- excellent verbal communication skills
- the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
- patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
- to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently
Industry Qualifications
To become a GP you'll need to complete:
- a degree recognised by the General Medical Council which takes 5 years
- a foundation course of general training which takes 2 years
- general practice specialist training which takes 3 years
If you already have a degree in a science subject, you could do a postgraduate degree in medicine which takes 4 years.
If you do not have any science qualifications, you might be able to do a degree in medicine which takes 6 years and includes a pre-medical year.