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General Practitioner
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General Practitioner
A general
practitioner (GP) or family physician (FP) is a
physician/medical doctor who provides primary care. A GP/FP
treats acute and chronic illnesses, provides preventive care
and health education for all ages and both sexes. Some also
care for hospitalized patients, do minor surgery and/or
obstetrics. The term family doctor is common in the United
Kingdom, where the word "physician" is only used for certain
specialists and not for GPs.
USA
In the United States, a General Practitioner has completed
the one-year internship required to obtain a medical
license, after having received at least an undergraduate
Baccalaureate Degree and a four year Doctor of Medicine (or
in many states a Doctor of Osteopathy, or D.O.) Degree. A
Family Medicine physician, however, has completed a 3-year
family medicine residency in addition to the undergraduate
and doctoral studies, and is eligible for the board
certification now required by most hospitals and health
plans.
Starting in the 1970's and 1980's, many board certified
Family Physicians in the United States began to consider the
terms "General Practitioner" and "GP" as somewhat demeaning
and derogatory, discounting their additional years of
training.
A Family Physician is board-certified in Family Medicine.
Training is focused on treating an individual throughout all
of his or her life stages. Family physicians will see anyone
with any problem, but is an expert in common problems. Many
family physicians deliver babies as well as taking care of
all ages of patients. Family physicians complete
undergraduate school, medical school and 3 more years of
specialized medical residency training in Family Practice.
Board Certified Family Physicians take a written examination
every 6-7 years, as well as a case review of 20 patients
from their recent practice, to remain certified. Three
hundred hours of continuing medical education within the
prior six years is also required to be eligible to sit for
the exam.
Between 2003 and 2009 the board certification process is
being changed in Family Medicine and all other American
Specialty Boards to a continuous series of yearly competency
tests on differing areas within the given specialty. The
American Board of Family Medicine, as well as other
specialty boards, are requiring additional participation in
continuous learning and self-assessment to enhance clinical
knowledge, expertise, and skills. The Board has created a
program called the Maintenance of Certification Program for
Family Physicians (MC-FP) which will require family
physicians to continuously demonstrate proficiency in four
areas of clinical practice: professionalism, self
assessment/lifelong learning, cognitive expertise and
performance in practice.
Certificates of Added Qualifications (CAQs) in Adolescent
Medicine, Geriatric Medicine, or Sports Medicine are
available for those board certified family physicians who
meet additional training and testing requirements.
UK
In the United Kingdom, doctors wishing to become GPs take at
least 4 years training after medical school, which is
usually an undergraduate course of five to six years (or a
graduate course of four to six years), leading to the
degrees of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MB
ChB):
one year as a house officer (PRHO) (formerly called a
houseman);
two years as a senior house officer (SHO) - often on a
General Practice Vocational Training Scheme (GP-VTS);
one year as a general practice registrar.
At the end of the one year registrar post, the doctor must
pass an examination in order to be allowed to practice
independently as a GP (Summative Assessment). This consists
of a video of two hours of consultations with patients, an
audit cycle completed during their registrar year, a
multiple choice questionnaire (MCQ), and a standardised
assessment of competencies by their trainer.
Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners is
optional and can be awarded by examination, or by systematic
assessment of an existing practitioner. After passing the
exam or assessment, they are awarded the specialist
qualification of MRCGP – Member of the Royal College of
General Practitioners. General practitioners are not
required to hold the MRCGP, but it is considered desirable.
In addition, many hold qualifications such as the MRCP
(Member of the Royal College of Physicians) and/or the DRCOG
(Diploma of the Royal College of Obstetricians and
Gynaecologists).
There are many arrangements under which general
practitioners can work in the UK. While the main career aim
is becoming a principal or partner in a GP surgery, many
become salaried or non-principal GPs, work in hospitals in
GP-led acute care units, or perform locum work. Whichever of
these roles they fill the vast majority of GPs receive most
of their income from the National Health Service (NHS).
Principals and partners in GP surgeries are self-employed,
but they have contractural arrangements with the NHS which
give them considerable predictability of income.
The MBChB medical degree is generally considered equivalent
to the North American MD medical degree. Doctors educated in
the United States, Canada, Ireland, and Great Britain have
more ability to move between the countries than other
national systems.
Visits to GP surgeries are free in the United Kingdom, but
most adults of working age who are not on benefits have to
pay a standard prescription charge for any medicines they
are prescribed that are not available over the counter.
Recent reforms to the NHS have included changing the GP
contract. General Practitioners are now not required to work
unsociable hours, and get paid to some extent according to
their performance, e.g. numbers of patients treated, what
treatments were administered, and the health of their
catchment area. They are encouraged to prescribe medicines
by their generic names. The system for assessing their
income based on these criteria is called QMAS. A GP can
expect to earn about 70,000 pounds a year without doing any
overtime.
Source: Wikipedia contributors (2005). General practitioner.
Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 12:07, December
26, 2005 from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=General_practitioner&oldid=32681804.
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