Budding GPs here?

Hi all,

I'm just curious if anyone here is/wants to be/will definitely go become a GP. I've read some stuff on the 'net (mostly pulse) and it's all incredibly downbeat, so I suppose what has me interested is why anyone else would want to go into it, and specifically what interests me is if anyone who is/wants to be a GP factored in the slight entrepreneurial/business side of things a GP may deal with

I don't want to be a GP; disclaimer complete.

There are several reasons one would choose to work as a primary care physician.

- The pay is better.
- Plenty of jobs with less competition.
- Generally more flexibility in your life.
- Shorter training path.
- Ability to sub-specialise in various things.
- Ability to do a lot of private work.
- Ability to work abroad more easily.

For most people I've met who want to become GPs the main thing is lifestyle factors, especially the ability to work part time if you want kids. I've also met some people who kind of defaulted into doing GP because they weren't especially passionate about any speciality in particular, so why not just go for something chill and low-stress?

1. Private work - I didn't think there was much demand for private GPs, or are you referring to stuff like vaccines? I'm not sure what sorts of private work you're talking about here.

In London at least there are increasing numbers of private GP practices... We've used them for immunizations (done by a nurse but GPs will be involved in the Practice) & getting quick/convenient appointments for not urgent but not wanting to wait 2-3 weeks sort of problems. They also offer out of hours services, longer appointments & other private services an NHS GP might not want to take on like medicals/reports etc.

I'm pretty surprised by this tbh, I did read some report on private GP services but it didn't seem to indicate there were loads. Of course it said demand was rising but was still not fantastic - unlike dentists people don't expect to pay for their GPs. Thanks for the reply though, it's given me more of an insight for sure.

I'm curious about who 'we' are?

GPs bemoan how busy they are and I'm sure I'm about to be slandered by some current practitioners, but in my experience its just not the same as hospital medicine. They're very busy for sure but there's no families demanding hourly updates, you tend to have 2 or 3 outstanding tasks rather than 12, or 20, and you tend to be able to have lunch of some description which is very much not the case on some jobs.

Just we as in me & my immediate family - the private immunizations (chicken pox & men b) were for my eldest child.

Ah right, admittedly I didn't really register those things as private work, they don't seem like big moneyspinners, though it isn't something I know about.

For some reason when the word private is used my mind goes instantly to cosmetic procedures, which I'm guessing isn't something gps can get involved with.

Thanks, these are pretty much the reasons I 'uncovered' when poking around, though I do welcome replies from those who do want to be GPs too

There's just a couple of things I wanted to ask about from your list though:

1. Private work - I didn't think there was much demand for private GPs, or are you referring to stuff like vaccines? I'm not sure what sorts of private work you're talking about here.

2. Working abroad - is this linked to the shorter training path? In that you're already fully qualified so countries will welcome you, or are you talking about something specific to being a GP other than the shorter training?

Thanks again.

The private mark up on Men B is probably fairly high with all the recent press. I imagine other travel/non NHS imms etc. wouldn't be offered privately if there wasn't some profit in it..!

GP consulting could be lucrative depending on the business model/demand - you can google fees? E.g. Ours was £45 per 10minute consultation with additional fees for investigations or letters.

Scope for some cosmetic procedures e.g. minor ops / botox etc. but further training needed for that.

I'm a GP in Fife. We do very little private work, mainly life insurance reports, holiday cancellations, HGV medicals. You can't charge privately for vaccinations (or any other treatment) the NHS provides to your own patients which is most of the vaccinations.
I would recommend being a partner rather than salaried GP as you have more control over your work that way and get to help decide the way the practice works. It gives me more job satisfaction as it is "my" practice not just somewhere I work. You have to like and respect your partners though.
We do have a business partner who checks over all the practice accounts but the day to day business stuff is done by our practice manager who we employ and an accountant checks everything over and meets with us twice a year. In a group of GPs there is usually at least one with an interest in finance so you don't have to get involved in that it you don't want to and even our finance partner just has 1 session a month for that so most of the time he's doing normal GP work. If you have good practice and office managers they should leave you free to see patients.
I do a dermatology session as a speciality doctor once a week. That is interesting and has given me extra skills but pays 2/3 of my GP session rate. I do minor ops at the surgery but these are NHS reimbursed. The NHS pays GPs an item of service fee for several minor operations.
The medical defence fees for private cosmetic surgeons are high. I refer (or tell people to refer themselves) patients to private plastic surgeons for purely "beautifying" operations. People will sue you if the results aren't what they expect and if you're a GP who dabbles in cosmetic surgery defending your treatment is harder, and I didn't go in to medicine to make a handful of people look a bit prettier.
When thinking of general practice as a career remember you are comparing being a GP with being a consultant so stuff like being continually hassled by relatives on the ward for updates is irrelevant as your junior staff will deal with that.
I enjoy the variety of conditions I see in general practice and feel it uses the breadth of my medical knowledge better than working as a hospital consultant. The days are fairly long though (8.30-6 more if doing extended hours) but full time GPs have an afternoon off a week to compensate. It is full on for most of that time though so an increasing number of us choose to work part time. The complexity and number of patients per full time equivalent GP is also rising.
In Scotland things are improving with the ending of QOF and the bean counting.
You have more flexibility in where in the UK you work as a GP than you do as say a gynaecologist where there are fewer vacancies.