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 and overall general practitioner career trajectory 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 on 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 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 knowing the patients. Thus, a GP would have the opportunity to build long-lasting relationships with patients. This relationship in turn allows GPs to provide 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 to 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 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 a 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 their 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 face high stress and workload due to emotional burnout, long patient lists, and limited time for each consultation (10-15 minutes). This can make it difficult to diagnose and treat patients, as access to medical tests is also limited. GPs fear making mistakes and may need to refer patients to specialists for accurate diagnosis.
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, and staying mentally and physically healthy was 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. GP’s private practice may have to sacrifice other expenses or wait a long time to buy new medical devices that may be outdated by then. Lack of equipment causes stress and issues for doctors and patients in diagnosis.
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, but he must also 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 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. Understaffed clinics or hospitals may hire locum staff on a temporary shift basis to support patient management. Being a locum GP offers more flexibility and control over work timings, resulting in better work-life balance. 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 protection, 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!
