I love the variety of medicine I encounter
Working as a GP in Australia, I love the variety of medicine I encounter in the general practice setting, as well as the continuity of the job.
When I was in medical school I was exposed to junior doctors in the years above me doing hospital rotations, who were in the general practice training program.
After enjoying several rotations myself, I then looked into finding out more information from the other doctors regarding the general practice training program, which I applied for and was accepted in my intern year. After completing another hospital year I became a GP registrar.
During medical school I also experienced one of the highlights of my career so far – being able to do two overseas electives, one in paediatric medicine in New York, and the other in general medicine/surgery in Ghana. It was amazing to be able to compare and contrast these two very different healthcare systems, and then to compare them with how Medicare works in Australia.
Working as a GP in Australia, I love the variety of medicine I encounter in the general practice setting, as well as the continuity of the job – when you get to follow patients through as opposed to the hospital environment, where you may not see a patient ever again once they are discharged. One reoccurring piece of advice for my patients is to not start smoking, and if they already are a smoker, to quit now!
Being a GP does have its challenges – one of my biggest being time management. I am booked for 20 minute appointments and if a patient comes in with a problem that takes more than 20 minutes, this can then cause a domino effect and sometimes I end up quite behind time by the end of a session.
As a member of the RACGP Membership Advisory Committee and Doctors in Training committee member with the SAMET Health Advisory Council, I represent junior doctors who have not yet entered training programs or are still in the early stages of their training, and actively encourage them to consider general practice as a career.