General practitioners and family physicians – NOC : 3112

Unit Group

3112 General practitioners and family physicians

General practitioners and family physicians diagnose and treat the diseases, physiological disorders and injuries of patients. They provide primary contact and continuous care toward the management of patients’ health. They usually work in private practice, including group or team practices, hospitals and clinics. Residents in training to be general practitioners and family physicians are included in this unit group.

Example Titles

family physician

general practitioner (GP)

medical doctor

resident, general practice

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Main duties

General practitioners and family physicians perform some or all of the following duties:

Examine patients and take their histories, order laboratory tests, X-rays and other diagnostic procedures and consult with other medical practitioners to evaluate patients’ physical and mental health
Prescribe and administer medications and treatments
Perform and assist in routine surgery
Provide emergency care
Provide acute care management
Vaccinate patients to prevent and treat diseases
Deliver babies and provide pre-natal and post-natal care
Advise patients and their families on health care including health promotion, disease, illness and accident prevention
Provide counselling and support to patients and their families on a wide range of health and lifestyle issues
Perform patient advocacy role
Co-ordinate or manage primary patient care
Provide continuous care to patients
Supervise home care services
Report births, deaths, and contagious and other diseases to governmental authorities.

Employment requirements

A bachelor’s degree
or
In Quebec, completion of a college program and one year of pre-medicine university studies is usually required.
Graduation from an approved medical school
and
Two to three years of family medicine residency training are required.
Completion of the qualifying examinations of the Medical Council of Canada
and
Licensing by the provincial or territorial licensing authority are required.

Additional information

General practitioners and family physicians may become specialist physicians with additional training.

Classified elsewhere

Allied primary health practitioners (3124)
Chiropractors (3122)
Managers in health care (0311)
Other professional occupations in health diagnosing and treating (3125)
Specialist physicians (3111)