GP wellbeing in Australian general practice
General practice should be a career that you can have for a long time. It’s really important to look after yourself over time and to recognise that at different phases in your life the kinds of support and self-care that you need will change. There are developmental phases of a doctor that are very specific and it’s important that people think about each of those phases rather than thinking that there’s a one size fits all approach.
Caroline: We want general practice to be a career that you can have for a long time. I’ve now been doing it for more than 20 years and I hope that I can do it for at least another 10 more. It is a bit of a journey. I know that’s a daggy word but you know this isn’t a sprint it’s a marathon, so it’s really important to look after yourself over time and to recognise that at different phases in your life the kinds of support and self-care that you need will change. Whether you’re a young GP dealing with the uncertainty of a very demanding profession. Whether you’re a little bit further on and you’re dealing with juggling all your home commitments; starting a family, buying a house. Or whether you’re like me later in the career and you’re wondering what you can do to improve the profession for the future of those who follow. Or whether you’re near retirement and you’re thinking about you know how am I going to shape my life in my later years when I lose part of my identity by no longer practising medicine. These are all developmental phases of a doctor that are very um specific and it’s important that people think about each of those phases rather than thinking that there’s a one size fits all approach to this.