Dr Pam Rachootin GP in Adelaide , SA .

almost everything now .”

I am , of course , amazed by my grandson ’ s abilities , but when I examine the reality , things do not exactly stack up .

Eventually , they figured out he had been sitting in a semi-circle at school .

As I pondered his mental world , it dawned on me that it is relevant to

I think GPs have a great advantage over other health professionals who are being lured into our roles because we have a much better apprecia-

He ’ s been going to school for six

For instance , for weeks , he has

our current professional situation :

tion of what we don ’ t know .

Ignorant pretenders playing doctor won ’ t solve the GP shortage .

months now .

Recently , my daughter told him he was clever when he had remembered something important , to which he replied : “ Yes , I know

been telling his parents about how he sits in a “ sesame circle ”.

What was he talking about ? Was he communing with the agricultural fertility gods ?

one of devolution of GP duties to all and sundry .

Yes , you can train almost anyone to write a script or make a diagnosis , but will it be correct ?

And having that greater uncertainty makes us ponder our actions , re-evaluate our assessment and treatment , consider our patients in the

context of their family history

and social situation , reconsider

differential diagnoses and seek

further advice .

We may consult journal articles

, our colleagues and spe-

Write-off here and ideally three lines if possible please , thankyou Obitius molupienime quat im num nume sust , simus doluptas

cialists , and we practise with care because we know that all is not as it may seem .

In studies of the Dunning – Kruger effect , which is about not knowing the extent of your own ignorance , it seems people

with less knowledge overestimate

how much they know ,

whereas people with more

knowledge underestimate how

much they know .

So perhaps that is why

many doctors — even after

decades of practice — still feel

like imposters , while the true

imposters are confident about

their abilities .

Think of Trump , presumably

passing an MMSE and then

declaring he ’ s a genius .

Now , if only government

decision-makers fully appreciated

the Dunning – Kruger effect

and how it could potentially act

to compromise our healthcare

system .

The abbreviated educational

courses to upskill allied

health professionals may backfire

by releasing an army of

confidently ignorant practitioners

who do not have the benefit

of knowing either their subject

matter or their customers as

family GPs do .

The stopgap measure

diverts attention away from

Pull Quote here Si odi totatiatem faccusa erovid magnimus , sitatum asitiis eariatio es qui cuptiorDolupid quam , sunt . Nis ne as recto et facia qui ut quiam , quis ma nullorest inctum ligendaerum

supporting general practice to provide holistic and personal care , which is exactly what makes the profession so satisfying to both patients and doctors .

These short-sighted solutions proffered to fix the current shortage of GPs only further destroy any inclination

of doctors to become

GPs ( or remain in the profession

) as the specialty spirals

into oblivion .

So just beware when my

grandson places a washcloth

over your hand and tells you he

is taking an X-ray .

He ’ s just a child playing at

being a doctor , as opposed to

our government , which is casting adults to play the role of a

doctor .

Meanwhile , I will celebrate ,

with greater appreciation , the

very useful doubts I entertain

over my perceived knowledge

working as a GP .