General practitioner

In the medical profession, a general practitioner (GP) or family physician is a doctor who is a consultant in general practice. GPs have distinct expertise and experience in providing whole person medical care whilst managing the complexity, uncertainty and risk associated with the continuous care they provide. GPs work at the heart of their communities, striving to provide comprehensive and equitable care for everyone, taking into account their health care needs, stage of life and background. GPs work in, connect with and lead multidisciplinary teams that care for people and their families, respecting the context in which they live, aiming to ensure all of their physical and mental health needs are met. They are trained to treat patients to levels of complexity that vary between countries. The term "primary care physician" is more usually used in the US.

A core element in general practice is continuity that bridges episodes of various illnesses. Greater continuity with a general practitioner has been shown to reduce the need for out-of-hours services and acute hospital admittance. Continuous care by the same general practitioner has been found to reduce mortality.^[1]

The role of a GP can vary greatly between (or even within) countries. In urban areas of developed countries, their roles tend to be narrower and focused on the care of chronic health problems; the treatment of acute non-life-threatening diseases; the early detection and referral to specialised care of patients with serious diseases; and preventive care including health education and immunisation. Meanwhile, in rural areas of developed countries or in developing countries, a GP may be routinely involved in pre-hospital emergency care, the delivery of babies, community hospital care and performing low-complexity surgical procedures.^[2][3] In some healthcare systems GPs work in primary care centers where they play a central role in the healthcare team, while in other cases GPs work as sole practitioners.

The term general practitioner or GP is common in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Australia, Canada, Singapore, South Africa, New Zealand and many other Commonwealth countries. In these countries, the word "physician" is largely reserved for certain other types of medical specialists, notably in internal medicine. While in these countries, the term GP has a clearly defined meaning, in North America the term has become somewhat ambiguous, and is sometimes synonymous with the terms family doctor or primary care physician, as described below.

Historically, the role of a GP was performed by any doctor with qualifications from a medical school working in the community. However, since the 1950s, general practice has become a specialty in its own right, with each country having specific training requirements.^[4][5][6] The 1978 Alma Ata Declaration set the intellectual foundation of primary care and general practice.