Career as General Physician

General physician is a doctor who deals with the diagnosis and treatment of common health problems or disorders, ranging from cold, cough, and nausea to chronic diseases such as jaundice, cholera, etc. He/she has to provide detailed information about the daily diet, health plan, and nutritious value in a meal etc to the patients, apart from diagnosing and treating the health problem. General physicians are also commonly referred as ‘general practitioners’ in North America, United Kingdom, Ireland and various other Common Wealth countries.

A general physician is a person, whose practice is not only confined to a specific medical stream, but also a broad range of medical problems. He/she has to be patient as he/she has to resolve health related issues of people from different age groups. A general physician has to work at irregular hours and shifts. A general physician needs to be a jack of all trades in the medical stream.

Course Details
One can pursue a career as general physician after passing undergraduate course in medicine (MBBS) or after holding a postgraduate degree in medicine (MD in general medicine). In order to seek admission to MBBS in India, one has to pass 10+2 in science stream and has to clear medical entrance examination conducted by various educational institutions/universities in India. Minimum qualification for doctorate of medicine is an MBBS degree from a university recognized by Medical Council of India (MCI). The program provides detail knowledge and an overview of the job of a general physician.

Career Prospects
Qualified general physicians can work in government dispensaries or private hospitals in both urban and rural areas. Opening up private clinics is also a good idea. One can also serve as family doctor, after pursuing the course in general medicine.

Top Colleges Offering UG/PG/Other Courses
Currently, institutes conduct professional education and training in this field. Some of the prominent medical colleges in India are Deccan College of Medical Sciences (Andhra Pradesh), Dr B R Ambedkar Medical College (Karnataka), Era Medical College (Uttar Pradesh), Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), (Himachal Pradesh), Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial Medical College (LLRM) (Uttar Pradesh), and Navodaya Medical College (Karnataka).

Remuneration
The job of a general physician is very respectable. As a physician, one can earn a decent amount of money through consultation fees and his or her private practices. Earnings totally depends on number of years in experience / practice, geographic area (rural / urban), number of workings hours, skills, proficiency and professional reputation of general physician.