By undertaking in-depth interviews of 47 primary care doctors, researchers found that one of the biggest causes of chronic stress and distress was the pressure of managing patients' psychological and social problems, as well as the abuse and confrontation often directed at them.
'General practice has many strengths as a profession, but we can be a little bit isolated,' he said. 'We can sit in a room and see patients and not necessarily have contact with too many other people in a day. 'If we [also] soak up a lot of our patients' problems in a day we're at risk of burnout.
Life as a GP
You'll be part of a wider team that promotes, prevents and offers treatment. You'll care for people with chronic illness and long-term conditions, aiming to keep them well and in their own homes. A full-time working week usually comprises of eight sessions, which equates to four days.
The primary disadvantage of being a salaried GP is that the remunerations are lower than a locum GP and you generally have to work harder affecting your work life balance. A GP Partner will share responsibility for the running of the business and gives you the most control over how the practice develops.
With less experience in general practice, and almost no experience of seeing GPs in high-profile positions, it is easy to think the profession lacks these opportunities, appearing to be lacking in prestige. Thus GP recruitment has become a vicious circle.
The happiest type of doctors are general practitioners. Working as a GP allows a doctor to maintain a healthy work-life balance whilst providing care to patients in the community, resulting in deeply satisfying work. Radiologists, anaesthetists and dermatologists also frequently rank highly for happiness.
GPs are facing potential stressors from all sides, with some finding little professional support within their practices. The researchers classify the causes of stress into three categories: emotion work, practice culture and work role and demands.
Rather than having a specific specialist area, GPs can diagnose many illnesses or ailments, and determine whether a patient needs to see a doctor with more specialist training. They are also increasingly responsible for the management and monitoring of complex chronic illnesses.
So, as a group, GPs do a far better job at improving health outcomes and for less cost compared to specialists. The reality is that General Practice is an enormously rewarding, challenging and varied career and that no two days are ever the same.
GP practices are open but are working differently in order to protect patients and staff.
A typical day for a doctor will be approximately 10.5 hours long. This represents an 8am-5:30pm working day, including breaks. Approximately 50% of doctors will however work an average of an extra hour-a-day, as a result of the constraints of the job.
The European Union of General Practitioners and BMA have recommended a safe level of patient contacts per day in order for a GP to deliver safe care at not more than 25 contacts per day.
General practitioners
From 1 April 2022, the pay range for salaried GPs is £65,070 to £98,194.
He added: 'GPs also told us how their working environment can be lonely, with long hours spent seeing patients but without the opportunity to talk to colleagues.
It highlights that high levels of stress and burnout, pension rules, family and caring responsibilities, and recruitment issues, particularly in deprived areas, are all key factors associated with GPs deciding to leave the profession earlier than planned.
Ability to choose your work and take additional responsibilities. The flexibility of GP allows you to work in different settings. You can become a touring doctor with a sports team or can become a cosmetic practitioner in a big city. You can be a ship doctor or become an academician/writer.
Depending on the specialty, consultants may perform operations and extensive testing on patients. GPs do not participate in such activities. Due to their training, consultants often make more than GPs.
Specialist doctors undertake a longer education period than general practitioners. To become a general practitioner, a person must go through approximately six years of medical education. On the other hand, being a specialist doctor would mean continuing education from general medical education to a more specific field ...
General practitioners (GPs) are doctors who provide medical services to people in their local community.
Fully trained salaried GPs earn a basic salary between £60,455-£91,228. GP trainees earn an average annual salary of £49,000 for the duration of the 3-year programme. Trainee medical academics will earn between £29,243-£32,691 in foundation years, and between £49,036-£52,036 in later specialist training.
Millionaire Status
Across the board according to the 2021 physician wealth report, 56% of physicians reported a net worth of over a million. Out of family physicians, the majority become millionaires by the age of 55, with only 11% having a net worth of a million before 45.
And nearly nine out of 10 reported that their workload was excessive and either prevents or significantly prevents the provision of quality and safe care. The survey also revealed that, using mean average figures, GPs are working more than 130 per cent of their contracted hours in their primary roles.
Some felt that in general practice they would not be able to use their specialist skills and feared becoming deskilled in clinical areas such as the interpretation of x-rays. Others were concerned about the relative isolation in terms of medical responsibility, compared to working in teams in hospital.
GPs can provide treatment for mental health problems and offer long-term care and support. You can ask if there is a GP at your surgery who has an interest in mental health problems. It can help to write down a list of things you'd like to talk about with the GP. Such as symptoms or side-effects of medication.