What Does a General Physician Do?

A general physician (often called a GP) is a doctor who looks after people of all ages and treats many different health problems. These doctors are usually the first person a patient sees when they feel unwell, acting as the family doctor or first port of call harleystreet.org.ukprospects.ac.uk. GPs provide continuing care in the community and aim to keep patients healthy. They diagnose and manage illnesses (from common colds to long-term conditions like diabetes or asthma) by considering the patient’s physical, mental and social needs.

Key Responsibilities of a General Physician

General physicians carry out many tasks to help people stay well and get better when sick. Some of their common duties include:

  1. Consulting Patients: GPs talk with patients about their health. This can happen in the GP surgery (clinic), during home visits, by phone or at local health centres.
  2. Diagnosing Conditions: They ask about symptoms, examine patients and order tests (such as blood or urine tests) to find out what is wrong targetjobs.co.uk. They also monitor ongoing conditions, checking on patients’ health and progress over time.
  3. Treating Patients: GPs prescribe medicines and give treatments to help patients recover. They may perform small procedures as needed (for example, stitching a wound or removing stitches) as part of the care.
  4. Preventive care: They provide advice and services to prevent illness. This includes running health screenings (like blood pressure or diabetes checks), giving immunisations and advising on healthy diet and exercise.
  5. Coordinating Care: If a patient needs specialist help, a general physician refers them to hospital doctors or other consultants. They then follow up to make sure the patient gets the right treatment and care uk.indeed.com.
  6. Administrative Tasks: GPs keep patient medical records up to date, issue repeat prescriptions and complete paperwork (such as sick notes and referral forms) for the practice. Some GPs also help manage the running of the clinic.
  7. Teamwork: General physicians work with a team of healthcare professionals for example nurses, pharmacists, midwives and therapists to give complete care to their patients.

Working Hours and Environment

In Britain, general physicians usually work in a GP surgery (doctor’s office), community health centre or clinic. Some also work in hospitals or nursing homes. A typical working day runs from about 8 am to 6:30 pm prospects.ac.uk. GPs normally have two sessions of patient appointments (one in the morning and one in the afternoon) with each appointment lasting around ten minutes

 In between patient sessions they handle paperwork, make phone calls and arrange test referrals; they may also visit patients at home or in care homes if needed. Throughout the day, GPs often work closely with other staff members (nurses, pharmacists, etc.) as part of a larger healthcare team.

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