General Practitioner Jobs

General practitioners have excellent career prospects, underpinned by a shortage of qualified primary care physicians in many countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, UK and USA. This creates an abundance of job opportunities and most general practitioners will be able to find work  to suit individual goals, lifestyles and preferences. Whether you are seeking full time, part time or flexible work schedules, locum or permanent jobs, there are plenty of positions avaialable in both urban and rural areas.

Should you wish to diversify your skills and broaden your scope of work, there are jobs for general practitioners in secondary care specialities in the fields of anaesthesia, obstetrics, emergency medicine, rural and remote medicine and even in hospital medicine.

Often additional training and qualifications are required to assume the additional responsibilities of hospital work and specialist practice, but not always. 

Varied locations beckon with job opportunties in urban and rural medical practices, islands and continents, coastal cities and inland towns which offer endless chances to experience different cultures and interests.

Contact our recruiters and we will help you find the right job.

There are three main models of remuneration for general practitioners -salary, fee for service or a hybrid.

• Salary: salaried general practitioners earn a fixed income for a defined amount of work, usually based upon hours worked, regardless of the number of patient consultations or procedures performed. In some practices salaries are determined or influenced by the total number of patients registered with the practice. Additional allowances may be added for on call duties, other duties or study leave and continuing medical education.
• Fee for Service: this payment model is based upon activity with fees generated for each item of service such as patient consultations and procedures. Fees are paid by patients or insurance companies and the practice usually retains a percentage to cover administation and property costs ( 20-35% is typical).
• Hybrid model: some healthcare facilities offer a mixture of fee for service and salaried remuneration. This usually consists of a fee for service fee structure with minumum guaranteed salary and some benefits such as healthcare insurance and travel or relocation allowance.

There are advantages and disadvantages to each model of compensation and the additional benefits which make up the offer, but our recruiters will help you decide which one is right for you.

Required qualifications vary by jurisdcition of practice but in general, all general practitioners must hold the following credentials:

• a primary medical degree - MBChB, MBBS, MD
• internship / pre-vocational training of 1-2 years
• specialist / vocational training in general practice or family medicine
• a specialist qualification in general practice or family medicine eg MRCGP, FRACGP

Some jobs require additional qualifications for an enhanced scope of practice which often includes emergency medicine, anaesthesia, obstetrics, sports medicine, travel medicine or rural medicine. The job description should detail these but if in doubt, contact the recruitment consultant.

Professional registration and credentialing requirements vary by jurisdiction of practice but in general the following credentials are esssential:

• Primary Source Verification of qualifications and licence done by either EPIC / ECFMC or DataFLow (Middle East only).
• English Language Proficiency Certification (USA, Canda, UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand) - OET or IELTS Academic Module.
• 2 forms of ID 
• Residency / Vocational Training Syllabus (Australia and New Zealand)
• Continuing Medical Education (CME) participation

Our recruiters will be able to advise you of the credentialing requirements for each practice jurisdiction and professional regulatory authority. 

The DPA classification identifies locations in Australia with a shortage of medical practitioners.

The DPA system uses a number of factors to determine which areas are classified as DPAs, including:

• The demographics of patients in the area, including their age and gender
• The socio-economic status of patients in the area
• The Medicare billings for the area compared to the benchmark for DPA 

The DPA system also includes automatic rules, such as:

• Areas classified as MM 2 to 7 under the Modified Monash Model (MMM) are automatically classified as a DPA
• Inner metropolitan areas classified as MM 1 are not classified as a DPA
• The Northern Territory is automatically classified as a DPA 

Medical practices can request a review of their DPA classification if there are exceptional circumstances affecting access to GP services in their area.

Geographical and medicare billing restrictions apply to international medical graduates who are permitted to work as general practitioners only in areas of physician shortage, deemed Distribution Priority Areas (DPAs) with a 10 year moratorium which can be reduced by up to 5 years by gaining credits by working in specific remote areas.

Priority areas are usually in a regional, rural or remote location, although some areas are just 30-60 minutes drive from major cities.

There are good reasons to work in these areas:

• it is an important step to having your skills recognised
• the cost of living is low
• communities are welcoming and supportive
• there are more job opportunities for International Medical Graduates
• Financial incentives are available for working in more remote locations through the General Practice Rural Incentives Program

Here are some examples of DPA areas in Australia:

• Toowoomba and Bundaberg in Queensland
• Batemans Bay and Umina in New South Wales
• Geelong and Ballarat in Victoria
• Launceston and Davenport in Tasmania
• Blackwood and Golden Grove in South Australia
• Busselton and Broome in Western Australia