Things to consider before starting your GP degree
Medicine is not a field in which an individual starts on a whim and pursues a professional career. It is quite rigorous to go to medical school and complete the necessary training. So, it is imperative that a med student is enthusiastic and also has adequate knowledge about different medical disciplines before deciding upon this career. You can find detailed information on various specialties at Doctor Jobs Today.
There is a clear demand for medical professionals in Malaysia. In 2020, there were 74,000 registered doctors in Malaysia. The country currently ranks tenth on the average number of doctors per thousand. In Asia, it is with 1.66 doctors per capita. The 2016-2020 Strategic Target of the Ministry of Health is to have a 1:400 ratio of medical doctors by 2025. Still, an aspiring physician who wants to be a general practitioner should be sure that this is the appropriate career plan for him. As such, it is important to know about the pros, cons, benefits, and job opportunities of a GP.
How Many Years of General Practitioner Training
It takes at least 10 years to become a general practitioner. General doctor schooling includes 5 years of MBBS training, two years of housemanship, and 2 years of compulsory government service. You may also wish to explore family practice doctor education as another primary care specialty, if you are willing. You can find detailed information about general practitioner training in Malaysia in our previous blog post on becoming a GP.
Which skills should a GP have?
General practitioners deal with many patients on a daily basis, and they are in constant communication with people. Therefore, GPs that are able to place importance to human values, tend to have a better general practitioner career. Patience, empathy, communication, organizational skills, and attention to detail are just some of the many required general practitioner skills. Being able to work for long hours is also important for a general practitioner.
Pros of the general practitioner career path
Becoming a General Practitioner let you be an important part of your community
General practitioners are more community oriented as opposed to specialists as they provide healthcare to a neighborhood. Embracing the characteristics of the local community usually involves a level of service beyond just to know the patients. Thus, a GP would have the opportunity to build long-lasting relationships with patients. This relationship in turn allows GPs to provide the care suitable for both the ailment and the patient’s personal needs. A patient who deals with a minor injury, a chronic disease, or depression caused by stress can see a general practitioner have appropriate treatment for all of these troubles. You can also get health advice from a GP, such as a healthier diet, to have a better daily life. Patient’s having an uneventful pregnancy can also refer to a general practitioner for routine check-ups.
Besides, in an emergency or in the case of a need, a GP can refer the patients to relevant specialists.
Being a GP, you would have many career opportunities
Since GPs have effective and comprehensive medical knowledge, they have various clinical opportunities. In line with personal desires and the received general practitioner training, a GP may work on a ship as a ship doctor, in a prison as a prison doctor, or he also can start working as a sports doctor or an army doctor and etc. A GP wishing to work online has the opportunity to do teleconsultation which as a digital healthcare service provider. You can find a piece of comprehensive information about the job opportunities for a GP on Doctor Jobs Today.
Besides, as a self-employed general practitioner, you can even work in the private sector as a forensic medical examiner, a clinical researcher, a medical article writer and etc. Thus, you may gain more control over your profession. Ultimately, a big benefit of becoming a GP is the flexible career options you have. Suppose you are not feeling well, you can take a bit of break from work. You would also be able to intensify your work or select more sessions to work on during periods when you need more income.
As a GP, you can start your professional career earlier
Physicians can start working as a GP after their mandatory service, which is approximately 4 years earlier than a specialist (depending on the specialty). Being able to start working at an earlier age, you can have more years of experience and more savings compared to physicians from other medical professions, having spent less time training and less money for your medical education.
From Several Perspectives, Being a GP can also be Challenging
Despite the benefits of being a general practitioner, this career path can also be challenging at times.
Overwork, Pressure, and Stress are tiring GPs
GPs often face a greater level of stress and workload in their profession. The excessive work stress of a general practitioner can be because of emotional burnout, growing lists of patients, and the fear of making mistakes. Given the volume of patients that GPs see on a daily basis, they have a shorter time for each consultation which is approximately 10 to 15 minutes, compared to a consultation with a Specialist. In this short time, it is much harder to diagnose an ailment and provide suitable healthcare to the patient. This issue is further amplified due to the limited access to medical tests. These two issues can many times make it more difficult for a GP to provide an accurate diagnosis, and in these situations GPs are resigned to refer the patient to the specialist. General practitioners, in general, are susceptible to work stress due to the fear of an incorrect or partial diagnosis, given the limited tools they have available.
Additionally, the workload of GPs has increased significantly from the beginning of the pandemic, because GPs are the first contact points of possibly infected patients, they play a critical role against COVID-19 during the pandemic. Thus, they face bigger challenges to balance their social and work-lives. GPs are responsible for the continuous care of the majority of COVID-19 patients in general. Nonetheless, they had to make huge efforts to prevent the spread of the virus and to provide effective, comprehensive care to infectious patients. Dealing with a new disease, staying mentally and physically healthy was a significantly more difficult for general practitioners.
Being a GP, you would have less access to resources
Being a general practitioner is different from being a doctor working in a hospital. Working as a GP you would not have the same access to medical tests and equipment as a doctor in a hospital. Thus, GPs may have to diagnose ailments without having complete bio-data on their patient. Besides, a general practitioner who runs his own business would be limited by his own finances. To buy a new medical device, a GP having his own practice should cut back on another expenditure of the business or wait many years to purchase a machine that may not be relevant by that time. Lack of medical equipment can lead to diagnostic uncertainty which would, unfortunately, be stressful and create problems both for the physician and the patient.
You will have lots of paperwork
Becoming a GP requires you to do a lot of paperwork and administration. A GP running his own practice has not only patients to manage, he must run his business as well. Often, they spend a lot of time doing admin work, financial planning, referrals, and the like, even out of hours. So, a general practitioner will be ready to do management in addition to their clinical work, resulting in a around the clock occupation.
Other information on a GP Career
Locum vs Salaried GPs
Locum GPs are general practitioners who assist other doctors by covering their shifts. When a clinic or a hospital is understaffed they will bring in Locums as temporary shift-based staff to support on patient management. As a locum GP, a physician would have more control over their work timings, thus being a locum GP would offer a better work-life balance with higher flexibility. On the other hand, locum GPs might not have a guarantee to work on all their available days, yet as a salaried GP, you doctors would have a fixed schedule except for emergencies. Being a salaried general practitioner offers you the opportunity to be stable with the timetable and your income and comes with additional benefits such as protections, guidance, and insurance while working with a healthcare employer.
What are the approximate salary ranges for a GP?
GPs can start their general physician careers with a relatively higher income than other professions. A GP with 5-9 years of experience in Malaysia can earn an average of RM 104, 914 per year per payscale.com. If becoming a GP isn’t for you, check out our other jobs to get a sense of what career is best for you!
About Doctor Jobs Today
Doctor Jobs Today is the first job-seeking platform in Southeast Asia dedicated to serving the job searching needs of healthcare professionals. We have created a space to connect employers and medical job seekers seamlessly. As part of the healthcare community, we understand that traditional job portals are not catered toward medical doctors. So we decided to create a portal advertising only the most relevant jobs from the top employers within the industry because we are just as picky as you are!
Doctor Jobs Today has the right vacancy whether you are looking for a higher salary, a better-equipped hospital for your specialization, or even a career shift from patient care.
About Docquity
If you feel like your educational and professional experience has not been sufficient to make your CV pop, expanding the network to other healthcare professionals to practise peer-to-peer learning might be the answer. One of the ways to do it is by joining a social platform for healthcare professionals, such as Docquity.
Docquity is the region’s largest and most trusted community of doctors, bringing you real-time knowledge from thousands of doctors worldwide. Today, Docquity has over 300,000 doctors spread across six countries in Asia.
Meet experts and trusted peers across Asia where you can safely discuss clinical cases, get up-to-date insights from webinars and research journals, and earn CME/CPD credits through certified courses. All with the ease of a mobile app available on Android & iOS platforms!
