Not Just A GP...
Right throughout my medical degree I have been asked by many people what I want to aspire to become after I have finished medical school. This is usually done in the form of 'Do you want to be a Specialist or just a GP?' I never used to be fazed by this question in my earlier years and would simply answer that I wanted to become a rural GP Obstetrician. However, as I have progressed through my medical degree and have become more aware of what exactly a GP does, I am now slightly angered by such a question. Just a GP...it makes it sound as though medical students should either aim for becoming a Specialist, or not bother at all - something that I have found to be a very, very, very long way from the actual truth.
Let me tell you about my own experience. For the 4th year of my medical degree I was privileged enough to have been able to have spent an entire year within a General Practice located in rural Victoria, under the guidance of a very experienced General Practitioner. During my time there I was able to both witness and experience first-hand just how much General Practitioners do as well as the skill, knowledge and passion required to do so. There was never a dull moment for me and every patient encounter provided a unique learning opportunity. As for many years, in fact since before I was even born, my supervisor has been delivering babies, carrying out anaesthetics, removing skin lesions, performing x-rays, attending to emergencies, running the local hospital, visiting patients in nursing homes, managing acute and chronic disease, counselling patients, undertaking preventative health measures, investigating and diagnosing the unknown, teaching medical students and registrars as well as being a leader within the local community, amongst many other things.
The opportunities available to General Practitioners are endless, so therefore nowadays if anyone asks if I want to be 'just a GP' I challenge them to spend a day with my GP supervisor and suggest to him that all he has become is 'just a GP'...funnily enough no one is yet to take me up on that challenge.
Lana Prout
Monash General Practice Student Ambassador
For more GP myth-busting be sure to check out the
General Practice Student Network
Did you know?
MDA National is GPSN's foundation sponsor and GPRA's major sponsor.
Since 2008, MDA National has worked closely with both GPSN and GPRA with a strong commitment to General Practice.
MDA National would like to congratulate the medical students who won the GPSN First Wave Scholarship; we look forward to meeting you at the GPSN First Wave Student Orientation Workshop in September.
