THE MAKING OF AN OLD-FASHIONED GP

L-R: Club Chairman, Christopher Jewitt and Peter Stevens

With the treatment of diseases and other medical conditions becoming ever more advanced and complex, there has arisen a corresponding increased demand for medical practitioners with the specialist skills to address these challenges. This has resulted in the tendency for many health professionals to concentrate on pursuing a career as consultants, expert in their own particular field of knowledge and experience. However, in support of these specialists, are our general practitioners (GPs) who are called upon to recognise and to treat a multitude of different ailments and conditions. As a retired GP himself, the speaker at a meeting of the Bakewell and District Probus Club, member, Peter Stevens gave an insight into the life of a GP and he discussed the changes to the profession that had occurred over the course of his own long career.

In common with so many school-leavers in the 1960s, Peter was offered very little careers advice, and so it was almost by accident that he decided that he wanted to become a doctor. Hence it was that he enrolled at Edinburgh University on a six-year course, with each year of study covering a different aspect of his training. Significantly, as a medical student it was not until the fourth year that he started to have hands-on experience with actual patients. On graduation he worked in a number of hospitals and GPs’ practices until gaining his registration with the General Medical Council, thus being granted a full licence to practice medicine. At this point, he applied for an overseas posting to the Caribbean island of St Kitts which, at that time was very underdeveloped. After two years, he returned to Britain and eventually became a partner in the Newbold surgery in Chesterfield.

Outlining some of the changes that he had witnessed during his career, Peter thought that one of the most significant came when the links between a patient and his/her designated GP were broken. Up until that time, the patient would normally see the same doctor at every visit. This engendered trust by the patient and, most importantly, allowed the doctor to gain an understanding of the patient’s medical and personal history. The speaker regretted that this mutually beneficial relationship has been largely lost.

Details of the Bakewell and District Probus Club, including reports of earlier meetings, can be found on its website at www.bakewellprobus.org