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Speciality Series (GP)

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Summary

This interactive session brings to light the day to day challenges and opportunities that General Practitioners (GPs) face in the medical industry. The facilitator highlights the importance of time management, valuing one's time, and developing networking skills to further the career of a medical professional. They also discuss the financial implications of being a GP and the disparity between GPs and specialist consultants. The session provides a thorough understanding of how general practice works within the NHS and the benefits of being a 'generalist'. It further delves into real-world professional advice, including the significance of networking, and offers an introspective look on what can be improved during medical student years if aiming to become a GP. The talk is followed by a Q&A session opening the floor for further exploration of subjects. Attend to gain insights that would help in improving one's practice and reaching their career aspirations.

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Description

Our second session will be focused on GP and will cover:

▪️What students need to do / know to help with their application process (including extra curriculars, research, etc)

▪️GP with special interest - how the application process differs for this (in contrast to just GP)

▪️Private sector and the operational side of starting up a clinic

(sorry the recording is not complete, only some of the QnA session was recorded)

Learning objectives

  1. Understand and appreciate the value of time management as a medical professional, especially as a general practitioner, and how it contributes to effective practice, resilience, and income generation.
  2. Understand the differences, limitations and benefits between being a GP and a specialist consultant, including the effect on income potential and time valuation.
  3. Recognize the importance of networking, building relationships within and outside the medical field for career growth, mentorship, support system, patient referrals and future business opportunities.
  4. Understand the roles GPs can play outside of patient consultations including medical directors, clinical leads, clinical governance and find opportunities to leverage these positions.
  5. Understand the importance of strategic decision-making in investing time and resources in areas such as medical research, leveraging potential financial benefits against personal satisfaction, career advancement, and future applicability.
Generated by MedBot

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Computer generated transcript

Warning!
The following transcript was generated automatically from the content and has not been checked or corrected manually.

General practice. I think if you have your head screwed on well, and you are resilient and you are tough and you don't let the politics or the drama get to you, you can manage your day really, really well and it doesn't have to bleed into anything else. The key is your time management and how much you let people take from your time. I think what you've got to understand first and foremost, really as a doctor before you as a GP primarily is that your time is what makes you valuable, your time is your best asset and you need to make sure that you manage that safely and carefully and you don't let people run away with your time because they don't care about their time. I think that's the biggest asset I've had. That's why I've been able to manage things. Well, I've been able to make a sensible amount of money without doing the same amount of hours as my colleagues because I value my time above everything else and I put a price tag on that and that's what I sell. Do you feel restricted as a GP or quite similar to a doctor consultant on the ward. Uh I think yes, you're always restricted as a GP from a clinical point of view. You do not have the expertise or specialty that another that a consultant does. Uh And that is a limiting factor which you have a much shorter uh training program. There is no way you have the same capabilities that a consultant has. And that's just a reality you have to accept by being a GP and you will not wield the same level of respect and clinical demand as a consultant, especially when you go to the private sector. Let's say a GP can maybe ask between 90 100 and 10 lbs for a for a consultation. Whereas a consultant, cardiologist will ask for anything 200 lbs upwards for some of their time. A good general surgeon will ask for 250 a plastic surgeon who's well renowned will ask for anything up from 350 for their for their time. So from a financial point of view, no, our time does not have the same worth as that of a consultant. Uh The only benefit we have as GPS is because we're generalists. We are more likely to pick up roles such as medical directors, clinical leads, um supporting operations. Those are the bits that you can become skillful at. Um Clinical governance is an area that we are probably better at than um our consultant counterparts because we are more focused on being generalists and seeing the bigger picture on the patient side of things. Whereas a consultant surgeon or orthopod, for example, is much more focused on the specifics of that niche issue that they have. So that's where you can find where you can have more worth, I suppose is in, in governance and in being a clinical lead and there's loads and loads of companies that want a clinical lead or clinical director that are outside the NHS any more questions, guys, I hope I've been helpful so far. What would you have wished to have done as a student if you knew you were go, you were going to be a GP that you didn't do. Uh That's a very good question actually. What would I have done if I'd known what I know now, I would have made a lot more contacts. I would have made sure I had everyone's name and number in my phone that everyone knew who I was and what my skill set was and how I was of value to them and that how they could be of value to me and how we could work together. Uh I went through all my training programs and being a surgeon just kind of working it as a job. Not thinking about the fact that if I wanted to build something in the future, these would be the people I would need to work with. Um, surgeons are much better at that surgeons aren't know that they have to build a, a little club for themselves within surgery because they will refer surgeries to each other. They will need each other in major surgeries in the NHS and in the private sector. And because I left general surgery early, I didn't, and I thought I was just going straight into general practice and stuff. I didn't appreciate the value of that network that I had. And now that I've moved into the private sector, I do, I have gone back and tried to reignite those relationships and they are really important. So I think that's the bit I would have done the most is the networking going to conferences, understanding what's slightly outside the box. What's like the outside of nice guidelines? That's what I would have invested my time in. How do you build the network? Yeah. So your F one F two colleagues are great for when you're kind of going through the path and when you both get to the level of GPS or consultants, then yes, they're gonna be the people you rely on in the future. But even working with your seniors, your registrars, your consultants going to conferences. Um even with the reps that come in that do you know the drug reps or the, the equipment reps? These people you will rely on when you are out on the other side and you wanna grow a business. These are people that will set you up with the next person along the chain or they'll say, oh, there's this really new big thing coming from the state. You could be the first person to own this machine that does this XY and Z er treatment in the UK. There's this conference that will pay for you to go to. If you're, if you advocate for us as a company that you'll take on this new business for us with our name on it. So those are the things I didn't appreciate when I was in the thick of it, in secondary care in the hospital, you get to know so many great people and networking is about making sure they know who you are. They know your name. And if you were to meet them two or three years later for a coffee, they'd pick up the phone, they'd say, yeah, let's go for a coffee. They'd recognize you, they'd respect you. They'd like you. Those are things I think are what networking is that you can build a respected team of colleagues that you can call on if you need them. And as you get through general practice and you want to start something I did, you know, like I'm, I'm promoting this privately. Those are the people that you will rely on. They want you to help them and you'll want them to help you. Would you recommend investing time into medical research for being a GP? Um Unless that research was going to have a financial reward for me. No, like I said, my time is my, my most valuable asset. So I need to know what that, what the reward is for that research. I have lots of friends and colleagues that have actually gone into doing P hds um and doing masters in extra training. And I think if it doesn't have something for it to go to later, you know exactly where you're gonna put that investment in later, don't do it. The problem about us being medics is we are trained to think about being a very scientific and being about the patient and what's best and, you know, but the reality is at the end of the day, you're gonna have to pay a mortgage. You're gonna wanna have a support with childcare, you're gonna wanna have a car that is reliable. You're gonna wanna go on a holiday a couple of times a year to relax and having that support financially in the bank is what you're gonna rely on and is what's gonna give you the work life balance you're actually looking for. Um, and so every time you, you decide to do something with your time, you need to consider, what do I get out of this if it's just for your enjoyment? And that's your, you know, tick that, that's what, that's what makes you happy, then. That's fine. That's fair enough. That's what you're gonna pay for. I'd pay for a handbag, you'd pay for research. That's fine. But if you're just doing cos you think it's gonna help your ca career? But you don't know where or how, then don't waste your time. Make sure that any research you do any time that you spend doing anything is, you know, you're gonna put in the future. Hello? How would you say? Do you, um, do you say, do you market your services? Is it through word of mouth? Um, my medical services, uh, over the last few years, obviously, I've, I've got quite a nice reputation now within my area. So there is a lot of word of mouth. So people will ask for a doctor or someone that can help their kid. They're really unwell and people will start recommending me. And I've had quite a lot of recommendations before I've even launched this company. So we've already had lots of patients come through before we've even launched the company officially. All got the website up and running. And that's just because II think thankfully, I've been very grateful, very lucky to have a nice reputation and people have liked the service that I've provided additionally. You do need to have a good website. You do need to make sure that that runs properly with all the search engines looking for you properly. You need to make sure that the offering that you have is really clear what kind of private doctor are, you know, what your competition is and why you differentiate yourself from that competition. And obviously social media is now one of the biggest parts. There is so much misinformation on social media about health that it just, it opens up an opportunity for us to just literally just say that's wrong, that's not correct, that's not safe and then give you a version and that's how people will hopefully trust you. But what I would say is don't be generic if you're going to start a private business and that's something you're interested in. If you're researching, it don't be generic. There are so many gps that have generic websites that have no patients come through to them cos just a generic opportunity to have one appointment. But there's nothing, you know, they haven't thought about the patient journey that when a patient books in with a doctor, they want to have everything so they want to have time, they want to have reassurance, they wanna have access to bloods, they want to have access to imaging, they want to have access for a follow up. They will have access to referrals, they want advice about what to do next in the private sector. So you need to understand your marketplace really well. So that when they, well, once they've come through your front door, the first time they never leave you because they like you so much. They trust you so much. Any other questions guys? And Zina, I assume I am I the only speaker for today. So I don't have to come to an end any time soon. Yeah, I'm not sure. I'm not sure where Doctor Ala is. Ok. So I'm happy to stay on for like another 5, 10 minutes if anyone has any more questions or are there any other areas you want me to talk about? I've just got one question quickly. Sure. You mentioned, um, like making a network for yourself and getting good contacts if you need help later on or exactly, would you need help with if you know what you, what kind of help you need in the future? Yeah, like with the colleagues and the seniors that you mentioned the. So for example, let's say uh if you're the majority of you guys are hoping to, let's say be G GPS as GPS, there are always gonna be areas that you don't understand. You won't have enough knowledge and you won't have been to the latest conference to know where medicine is moving in that particular area. So if you have a friend, then let's say the most simplest terms of help. You just text them and go, I've got a patient. It's really odd. So it's really odd stuff. What do you think it could be or what would you do if you were in my place? Just having that ability to ask a colleague in a really informal way, not through the, you know, the formal channels that are available. Now, it takes forever to get through and they're worried about the fact that they don't want a referral to come through to them. If that's not appropriate, they're just telling you as a friend, then you become a better clinician for that and your patient will have better trust in you. And if you take that into the private sector where the patient is paying for your time, then you have done your job even better than anybody else because you've been able to provide all that information. If you're away on holiday and you want another colleague to pick up your work as a private doctor, you won't have enough colleagues who can go, do you want to pick up my list and they trust you that you'll pay them properly. Um Your colleagues are the ones that are gonna explain to you what's going on out outside the areas that you are most comfortable in and all of us as we try to grow within the private sector, our colleagues are what we, we rely heavily on who we're gonna make partnerships with. So even having a pharmacist, that's a friend and a couple of nurses, a physio, these are the people that you will work with cos in, like I said, in the private sector, it's not a structured area like you have in uh secondary care where everyone just kind of does their bit and you take it for granted in the private sector, you've gotta to build that yourself. You've got to build your own MTT. You've got to build your own network of people that you would call as if you were on call, you know, doing general medicine or general surgery. So that's where your network comes in. They're your support mechanism for the type of doctor you want to be as a general practitioner. You are limited because you are a generalist and not a specialist and therefore having specialists within your little black book is what's gonna make you stand up compared to everybody else. I hope that answers the question. Any other questions, guys? That makes sense? That's good. And is everyone here? Are you guys all um GP trainees or your F ones F twos? I think we're all uh medical students, medical students. Oh OK. Fine. You've got a long way to go before things change. This is the time as medical students, this is the time to pick up every single skill. You can, you have such an opportunity to make friends with your seniors because they're being paid to train you. Um And generally this is the time to show your skill set to them, make them like you. So if you want a job in the future, you have an opportunity to, to give that person a call or an email, add them onto your linkedin, make sure your linkedin is professional and sensible and ask to add on every specialist that you go through. Everyone that is sensible. Everyone that has taught you well, everyone that you would trust with your own family, add them on to your linkedin and make sure that you leave them with a pleasant memory of you so that if you do ever need to go back to them for support or for help or for advice or to become a partner with them in the future or for a job, you know, they've got a good respectful image of you in their mind. And that's so important, I think, especially as a medical student because you have so much access as a, you know, once you're qualified, you just have to get on with the job and therefore your opportunity to make those friendships and those networks are more limited as students. You have all the time in the world to do that, ask them to teach you every extra bit. You can, if they're putting a new stitch in, tell them how to put the next stitch in. If they're doing a scan, ask them how they're doing the scan. Can you do the next scan? Can you learn how to do that? And why did you report it that way? Why did you do it that way? What would make you, you know, ask them about all the questions they're so interested when they find someone that understands and then asks questions and they'll teach you so much more. And once you have those skills under your belt, you'll move through the ranks quicker because you'll know what you're doing. So, don't shy away from doing procedures. Don't shy away from learning things. Um, don't shy away from asking questions if you know something that nobody else does. You're already several steps ahead. Not for exams, not for the simple stuff. Now, when you kind of go through this, the, the mundane bit, but later on you'll rely on that information, it will be so helpful. Cool. So it looks like it's quietened down a bit. You guys have no other questions but um Gina, I'm more than happy that if any of you guys need any um contacts in the future or if you want to ever come and do some work in our clinic just to see what, what happens and get a feel for how we run our day to day. You're all more than welcome to through the specialty series to, to get through to me and ask for more support. Perfect. Then it was very lovely and enjoyable for me to chat to you all and you shall uh uh give you guys some advice and some information that would be helpful to you in the future. So I think I'm gonna let you guys go see. Did you wanna say anything else before?