General+Practitioner

General Practitioner by Conor Frampton

General practitioners serve as what we know them by, Doctors. When you have the flu, or a cold and you need to see a doctor, a general practitioner is who you go to. A typical work day for a general practitioner, or a doctor as I’m going to refer to them by, would require good people skills, good knowledge of medicine and the way a body works, and good accounting skills. A Doctors office is more then just a place where doctors do their business. Patient records are kept and need to be kept correctly. If a patient I allergic to a medicine and it is not documented properly, there could be bad consequences arising from the lack of organization. Prescriptions need to be filled out and to the proper amount, and you have to deal with billing troublems through the patients healthcare provider. But there also is a great deal of hands-on work done as anyone who's been to the doctor's would know. Doctors are required to work well with patients they see and know what is wrong with them in order to correctly diagnose the problem. There is a lot of work that is put into running a successful career as a general practitioner, and certain job skills help a lot.
 * __Job Description__**

**__Job Skills__**

General Practitioners must be able to think on their feet. When there are several patients waiting and something goes wrong with a current patient, the right measures have to be taken in as little time as possible. A strong desire to help others is required, there’s no self motivation in helping other people get over a sickness other then the motivation to want to be able to help. Doctors also need to be good people persons, a friendly attitude and correct social skills are a necessity. Also, there is a lot of pressure put on doctors, especially those who deal with special cases or special fields where there is a risk of death; as a result, general practitioners need to have good physical and especially mental stamina. It takes a strong willpower to get though a day of dealing with other people’s problems. **__Working conditions__**

Think of living in a doctors office, that's what it's like for a general practiitoner's working conditions. The workplace is often filled with germs due to the nature of the patients meaning exposure to sickness is very high. Also, if dealing with children, the workplace can also get loud, or messy. The rest of the office is what an office is typically like.


 * __Places of Employment__**

Any large city is going to be in need of many many doctors to house it's many many residents. Large practices often have several doctors working for them, so it's a good place ot start looking there. But pretty much any town with a decent size population is going to need a few doctors, wherever there are people a doctor will be needed.


 * __Job Outlook__**

With the U.S. setting up a National healthcare system, the influx of people who didn't used to go to the doctor's because they didn't have insurance, is going to drop siginificantly. With more people going to the doctors, and the average lifespan increasing each year, more and more doctors are going to be needed. And there doesn't seem to be any possibility of not needing doctors. As long as there are people alive, there will be a need for doctors, so the job security is high.


 * __Salary__**

In 2002, a doctor made, on average, $150,000 a year. That figure has gone up significantly though. That figure is for doctors working for a large-scale practice. If you work for your own practice, or a small family practice, that figure could either rise or fall dramatically. But the general trend is being a doctor tends to pay very well.


 * __Training and Eduation__**

As with most careers, 4 years of undergrad is required, typically in a social skill or business management. Then 4 years of medical school and 6 years of residency practice. Residency is on the job training in which you get paid. This time is spent learning how to diagnose, handle problems, and other things you can only learn hands on. Residency is typically done in a hospital. Then you must get liscensed by completing an exam. Finaly board certification is the final step before you become able to have a private practice.

"General Practitioner." __Education Online Search -- An Online Directory Of Career Education, College, School, And University Info__. 31 Mar. 2009 []. "General Practitioner." __Education Online Search -- An Online Directory Of Career Education, College, School, And University Info__. 29 Apr. 2009 []. "General Practitioner." __Education Online Search -- An Online Directory Of Career Education, College, School, And University Info__. 29 Apr. 2009 []. "General practitioner: Definition from Answers.com." __Answers.com - Online Dictionary, Encyclopedia and much more__. 29 Apr. 2009 .
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