General Practitioners and Family Physicians - What They Do

General practitioners and family physicians diagnose and treat the diseases, physiological disorders and injuries of patients. They provide primary contact and continuous care toward the management of patients' health. They usually work in private practice, including group or team practices, hospitals and clinics. Residents in training to be general practitioners or family physicians are included in this unit group.

Job duties

This group performs some or all of the following duties:

Examine patients and take their histories, order laboratory tests, X-rays and other diagnostic procedures and consult with other medical practitioners to evaluate patients' physical and mental health
Prescribe and administer medications and treatments
Perform and assist in routine surgery
Provide emergency care
Provide acute care management
Vaccinate patients to prevent and treat diseases
Deliver babies and provide pre-natal and post-natal care
Advise patients and their families on health care including health promotion, disease, illness and accident prevention
Provide counselling and support to patients and their families on a wide range of health and lifestyle issues
Perform patient advocacy role
Co-ordinate or manage primary patient care
Provide continuous care to patients
Supervise home care services
Report births, deaths, and contagious and other diseases to governmental authorities.

Job titles

family physician
medical doctor
general practitioner (GP)
resident, general practice

Employment Requirements

This is what you typically need for the job:

A bachelor's degree or In Quebec, completion of a college program and one year of pre-medicine university studies is usually required.
Graduation from an approved medical school and Two to three years of family medicine residency training are required.
Completion of the qualifying examinations of the Medical Council of Canada and Licensing by the provincial or territorial licensing authority are required.

Essential Skills

Service and Care