A general physician is a medical practitioner whose job description revolves around preventing, diagnosing, and treating various diseases, infections, and conditions in adults. General physicians have no specific area of expertise. They provide a wide range of treatments for patients suffering from various medical issues.

Since they have no specialty, general physicians will consult specialist physicians in case of arising complications and the need for surgery. Mostly, they deal with new patients, providing continuous care until such a time when the patients reach full recovery or the conditions stabilize.

Qualifications of general physicians

Just like specialist doctors, general physicians require a vast amount of knowledge. For starters, they need a degree in medicine, a foundation course in general training, and a specialist training course in the same.

During application, an aspiring general physician must take the University Clinical Aptitude Test. If not, doing a Biomedical Admissions test is another option.

Apart from the above requirements, medical schools encourage their students to do the ABIM practice test, as well as go for a voluntary or paid work training experience to further polish them for the real world.

What are the responsibilities of general physicians?

General physicians have various responsibilities in their line of work. The common task obligations include:

• Reviewing a patient’s relevant information including their medical history and symptoms.
• Doing an in-depth background check on possible family illnesses that may affect the patient.
• Diagnosing the disease, injury, or infection which can be done on the first medical appointment or subsequent routine checkups.
• Prescription of medication and appropriate treatment options which include exercises, healthy feeding, or surgery.
• Doing follow-ups to ensure patients take their medication and receive all the appropriate treatment.
• Educating patients about proper self-care, everything they need to know about their condition, and how to improve their condition.
• Making adjustments in the treatment in the case that the pre-existing medications are not effective

What are the skills required by general physicians?

One of the first things medical schools will assess to determine whether an aspiring student is fit to be a general physician is their skills.

So, what are the skills you must demonstrate to be a great physician?

• Knowledge

Physicians, generally, should be very knowledgeable. They need to grasp everything they learn at medical school and also stay ahead of technological advancements and trends in the medical field. It is this search for knowledge and new information that allows them to be better doctors and to offer top-notch care to their patients.

• Compassion

General physicians cannot bluntly deliver bad news to patients. They need to be empathetic to better interact with their patients.

• Professionalism

Professionalism is the heart of every career. An unkempt physician with foul language will not be respected. There is a need for physicians to carry themselves with the utmost professionalism.

• Passion

Being a medical doctor is not something you wake up as an adult and decide you want to pursue because it is a lucrative career. You need to have the passion earlier on in life. This helps you become disciplined and ready to sacrifice a lot for the sake of your career.