General practitioners (GPs) are doctors who provide medical services to people in their local community. There are different kinds of GPs, they may be a partner in a practice, salaried, locum or specialists.
Entry requirements –
At university you will need to do :
- a 5-year degree in medicine, recognised by the General Medical Council
- a 2-year foundation course of general training
- a 3-year specialist training course in general practice
If you already have a degree in a science subject (minimum 2:1), you could take an accelerated 4-year graduate entry programme.
You may be able to join a 6-year degree course in medicine if you have no science qualifications. This includes a one-year pre-medical or foundation year.
When you apply for a course in medicine, you could be asked to take the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) or BioMedical Admissions Test (BMAT). They test the skills you'll need on the course, like critical thinking, problem solving, data analysis, communication and scientific knowledge.
Medical schools will also expect you to have some relevant paid or voluntary work experience.
To get into university you will need GCSEs, grades 9 to 7 (A* or A), including English maths and sciences and 3 A levels, or equivalent, including biology and chemistry.
Career progression -
You could work in education, teaching students training to be GPs or go into clinical research.
You might also get involved in local health issues, maybe as a member of a local medical committee or clinical commissioning group.
Practices within Derbyshire have medical student placements on a regular basis from University of Nottingham and University of Sheffield, we have in the past had placements from universities further afield such as UCL.
To find out more about courses click on the below university's
Academic Unit of Primary Medical Care
Charlotte Watson charlotte.m.watson@sheffield.ac.uk Administration Manager
Joanne Senior jo.senior@sheffield.ac.uk 3a Community & Public Health / 3b Community & Palliative Care Module Administrator
What skills do you need?
- knowledge of medicine
- science skills
- knowledge of psychology
- counselling skills including active listening and a non-judgemental approach
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- excellent verbal communication skills
- the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
- patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
- to be able to use a computer