EASYUNI Ultimate University Guide 2013 Issue 2 | Page 6
CO U R S E S & C A REERS
A typical day for a GP in a government
hospital might look like this:
a.m.
6:00
Wakes up.
Takes a shower, has breakfast, gets dressed and be ready for work.
a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
8:30
Arrives at workplace.
Checks schedule to see whether there are any appointments for the day.
Sees walk-in patients during non-appointment hour.
Typical session with patients involves trying to solve their problems.
Often, it might take some time to actually find out why they have
come, as they may be embarrassed to open up initially.
Sees a wide range of cases, from an elderly man with high blood
pressure, to a newborn baby with a sticky eye, and a pregnant lady
needing a routine check up (some sessions tend to be busy and stressful).
a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
11:00
Spends the next hour taking or making phone calls to patients who
cannot make it to scheduled appointments, or who may not need to
if it is just a follow-up consultation.
May also catch up with any paperwork from the morning’s session.
p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
12:00
The staff at the practice meet to discuss various aspects of the
practice. These may be business decisions, or more difficult decisions
regarding patients. Again, a GP enjoys this group approach and shared
responsibility and feels that patients get a better service as a result. It
also means that if one of the staff needs to take a holiday or is affected
by a family emergency, the others can take over their workload.
p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
1:00
Lunch break
p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
2:00
Makes necessary home visits and catches up with more paperwork. There
are always blood tests to check, patient forms to fill in, and so on.
Stays until all the patients have been seen. If there are delays or
problems with other staff’s patients, a GP may still get involved (due
to responsibility for the whole practice) and often does not get to see
last patient until as late as 6.30 p.m.
p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
6:30
Catches up with any final paperwork and then leaves the workplace.
Once working hours are over, a GP no longer has any patient
responsibilities until the next morning.
Alternatively, you could be a doctor in the police force,
looking after the injuries of people in police custody, or
overseeing the rape suite – there are plenty of options.
You could also try your hand at part-time jobs related
to your profession, su