What Do Family and General Practitioners Do (including Their Typical Day At Work)

Job Description

Family and General Practitioners prescribe or administer treatment, therapy, medication, vaccination, and other specialized medical care to treat or prevent illness, disease, or injury. They also prescribe or administer treatment, therapy, medication, vaccination, and other specialized medical care to treat or prevent illness, disease, or injury.

Other tasks include:

• Order, perform, and interpret tests and analyze records, reports, and examination information to diagnose patients’ condition.
• Collect, record, and maintain patient information, such as medical history, reports, or examination results.
• Monitor patients’ conditions and progress and reevaluate treatments as necessary.
• Explain procedures and discuss test results or prescribed treatments with patients.
• Advise patients and community members concerning diet, activity, hygiene, and disease prevention.
• Refer patients to medical specialists or other practitioners when necessary.

We asked Family and General Practitioners how satisfied they are with their job. Here is what they said.

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78% of them said they were satisfied with their job and 90% said they find that their job makes the world a better place or helps to make someone else’s life better.

Typical Day At Work

On a daily basis, Family and General Practitioners prescribe or administer treatment, therapy, medication, vaccination, and other specialized medical care to treat or prevent illness, disease, or injury. They order, perform, and interpret tests and analyze records, reports, and examination information to diagnose patients’ condition.

A typical day for a Family and General Practitioner will also include:

• Collect, record, and maintain patient information, such as medical history, reports, or examination results.
• Explain procedures and discuss test results or prescribed treatments with patients.
• Monitor patients’ conditions and progress and reevaluate treatments as necessary.
• Coordinate work with nurses, social workers, rehabilitation therapists, pharmacists, psychologists, and other health care providers.
• Advise patients and community members concerning diet, activity, hygiene, and disease prevention.

We asked some Family and General Practitioners a few questions to find out what else does their work day look like. Here is what we found.

	Do you have telephone conversations everyday in this job?	89% said yes
	How important is it to work in a team in this job?	84% said very important
	Do you have group discussions everyday in this job?	80% said yes
	Do you talk or work with customers everyday in this job?	66% said yes
	Do you have to deal with angry customers everyday in this job?	45% said yes
	Do you have to make decisions everyday in this job?	87% said yes

Other responsibilities

Besides their typical day, Family and General Practitioners also operate on patients to remove, repair, or improve functioning of diseased or injured body parts and systems. They may also deliver babies.

On a weekly to monthly basis, Family and General Practitioners Prepare government or organizational reports which include birth, death, and disease statistics, workforce evaluations, or medical status of individuals. They might also Plan, implement, or administer health programs or standards in hospitals, businesses, or communities for prevention or treatment of injury or illness.

In addition, they Coordinate work with nurses, social workers, rehabilitation therapists, pharmacists, psychologists, and other health care providers.

Although specific duties may vary, many of them Direct and coordinate activities of nurses, students, assistants, specialists, therapists, and other medical staff.

To some Family and General Practitioners, it is also their responsibility to Conduct research to study anatomy and develop or test medications, treatments, or procedures to prevent or control disease or injury.

Working life

Standard 40 hour work week

Regular schedule like a 9 to 5

In a typical work week as a Family and General Practitioner, you can expect to work 40 hour work week.

Is this right for me

People who are suitable for this job tends to like working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. They like searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally..

They also like working with, communicating with, and teaching people. They like helping or providing service to others.

You can read more about these career personality types here.

Explore other careers

http://www.bls.gov/OOH/healthcare/physicians-and-surgeons.htm

http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home.html

http://www.ama-assn.org/

http://www.abms.org/