MYTH 1: General Practice? Isn’t it just coughs and colds?
Contrary to popular belief, being a GP is pretty challenging work. You get 15 minutes to meet a patient (maybe for the first time), find out what’s wrong with them, examine them, decide if its serious and how quickly you need to act, devise a management plan, explain it to them and ensure relevant follow up.

You never know what’s next through your door…it could be anything from a repeat script (which is rarely as simple as pressing the print key) to central
crushing chest pain that started at around 5am and “Doc I still really don’t feel so great….”.To be honest with you, I feel a bit relieved when someone with a simple URTI turns up every now and then (it allows me to catch up a bit when I am running behind!!!)

The type of problems you see depends on where you work, the availability of other medical services, your interests and the type of practice you work in. 24 hour medical centres in big cities with drop in services, bulk billing and quick consults possibly do attract more simple problems, but thorough GPs who spend more time with their patients tend to attract more interesting problems. Where would you go if you thought there was something significant wrong with you?

In rural and remote areas and some urban areas,GPs also work in emergency, surgery, anaesthetics and obstetrics depending on the needs of the community and available health services. These doctors manage major trauma, difficult births, common surgical procedures and anaesthetic lists in addition to office based General Practice. The scope of General Practice is so wide you can pretty much tailor it to suit you.

MYTH 2: All GPs do is write referrals and scripts.
Certainly referrals and scripts are an important feature in General Practice but before all that comes a diagnosis, preceded by examination and possibly investigations to exclude a range of differential diagnoses, considerations of medication actions, side effects and interactions, explanation to the patient and consideration of their coexisting conditions. GPs are the first point of call so you get to do most of the diagnostic/detective work. Also you get to know your patients over time so you get to see their progress and know when you’ve managed something well (or not so well!) Referral is at the discretion of the GP. So it basically means that you can manage the conditions you feel confident with
and refer when out of your depth. GPs also become an important communication hub for patients with chronic and complex health problems. Because of its limitless scope, General Practice best practice is evolving so rapidly it is impossible to get bored or feel like you’ve done it all before.

MYTH 3: Most people in General Practice get there by default rather than choosing it as a career
In the past it was possible to enter General Practice directly from the hospital system without any further training or fellowship examination. General Practice was learnt on the job with no further study necessary. Not surprisingly it was seen as the easier medical option. Since the 1996 provider number legislation came into effect, all new General Practitioners need to become Vocationally Registered. That involves either a three year training program and Fellowship examination or examination via the practice eligible route. GPs also have to demonstrate ongoing education through a Continuing Professional Development program to maintain registration. A survey of Doctors in training in 2002 by the AMA showed that most junior doctors choose General Practice because they are interested in helping people, due to their domestic circumstances, a desire for increased flexibility, the length of the training program and due their experiences of General Practice in medical school. Unfortunately after graduation from medical school there is often not a great deal of exposure to General Practice so it becomes more of an unknown career option.

Some people do “fall into” General Practice (like any other specialty) but most are pleasantly surprised and I’ve not ever met a GP who said their job was too easy!

(sort of) MYTH 4:General Practice is poorly paid
This is true in relation to the other medical specialties but depends on a number of things: area of practice, type of work done, private vs. bulk billing, hospital work, hours worked and whether you are a practice owner or contractor. In relation to the average wage, General Practice is still well paid but factors such as years of study required and degree of professional responsibility and liability would perhaps bring this into question. The average full time GP would earn at least $100 000 per annum and hospital and procedural work in General Practice can result in earnings in excess of $200 000 per annum. (Please note: estimates of average income vary and these figures are outdated. It is important to note that the Federal Governments’ Medicare plus initiatives provided a significant boost to GP incomes in 2004). An AMA 2002 workforce survey calculated an average of $47.14/ hour before tax on a 53 hour week including contact and non contact hours of work and data from the ATO in 2002 suggested an average income of $212,833 before tax and practice costs are deducted (these can constitute up to 50%).

MYTH 5: You Need To Be A ‘Superdoc’ To Work In The Country
Many doctors are turned off rural medicine because they feel that they need to be a ‘Superdoc’ to work in the country. There is certainly a role in rural medicine for those doctors who can perform anaesthetics, obstetrics and surgical procedures whilst running their hospital emergency department and a busy practice, but only if that is what they want to do. There is a shortage of all types of doctors in rural and remote Australia and many rural GPs provide only office-based care whilst working part-time and
following other interests or caring for their families. It is very unlikely that a rural practice will say no to you if you aren’t willing to be a ‘Superdoc’ so why not add rural medicine back on to your list of potential careers?