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Rata Hauora
Alternative titles for this job
General practitioners care for, diagnose and treat the health problems of individuals and families in the community.
Trainee and graduate general practitioners usually earn
$80K-$130K per year
General practitioners usually earn
Source: New Zealand Medical Association, 2017.
Chances of getting a job as a general practitioner are good due to a shortage of workers.
Length of training
11 years of training required.
Vocational PathwaysMore
Social and community services
Pay for general practitioners varies depending on experience, hours, location and the number of patients they see.
General practitioners under supervised training (house officers) usually earn between $80,000 and $100,000 a year.
Entry-level general practitioners (registrars) usually earn between $85,000 and $120,000.
Qualified general practitioners can earn between $95,000 and $180,000.
Senior general practitioners and those who own private practices can earn between $180,000 and $250,000.
PAYE.net.nz website – use this calculator to convert pay and salary information
(This information is a guide only. Find out more about the sources of our pay information)
General practitioners may do some or all of the following:
consult with and examine patients, and diagnose their problems
treat individuals and families over extended periods
advise on health care and prevention of illness
perform minor surgery
prescribe and administer medicines
keep medical records
refer patients to other health services when necessary
liaise with ACC (Accident Compensation Corporation) over accident and injury claims
train and supervise doctors working towards their general practitioner exams
screen at-risk groups for diseases such as cervical cancer and diabetes.
General practitioners need to have:
excellent communication and people skills
knowledge of anatomy and how the human body works
knowledge of different diseases, illnesses and injuries
knowledge of medicines and treatments, and the effect these have on patients
diagnostic skills
up-to-date knowledge of new research, treatments and practices
knowledge of medical ethics and law
cultural competency to work with people of different ethnicities.
General practitioners who run their own practice may also need to have small business knowledge and skills.
General practitioners:
usually work regular business hours and may be on call for some patients
work in clinics and health centres
often come into contact with diseases and bodily fluids
may travel to other towns or countries for conferences. Rural general practitioners and those who make house calls travel locally.
What's the job really like?
Ron Janes
Originally from Canada, Ron Janes came to New Zealand 20 years ago and wanted to continue practising both hospital emergency work and patient management. "So I chose a place where I could do all of that. It's exciting, and that's the kind of practice I enjoy."
Using all your medical skills in rural practice
Ron works part time at a medical practice on the ground floor of Wairoa Hospital, and part time as a rural hospital doctor.
"Medical practice can get quite dramatic in a small rural town. I've seen everything at the hospital: gunshot wounds, heart attacks and amputations. I've also had parents carrying children through the doors with meningitis. You really do get to use all your skills."
Challenging work, if not enough doctors
Ron spends one weekend in five on call, and although the workload is usually manageable, it can become stressful. "There have been challenging times when doctors have left the area and the workload has risen, but as more students are being trained in rural areas it should be less of a problem to attract doctors in the future."
And of course, there are those outdoor charms. "There are excellent beaches, fishing and surfing here!"
General practitioner video
Kiriana Bird describes how she became a general practitioner with a Māori health provider in Hastings - 1.42 mins. (Video courtesy of Kia Ora Hauora)
Tēnā koutou katoa. Welcome to Kia Ora Hauora.
Ko Maungatautari te maunga,
Ko Ohau te awa,
Ko Tainui te waka,
Ko Tukorehe te marae,
Ko Ngāti Tukorehe te hapū,
Ko Ngāti Raukawa me Ngāti Porou ngā iwi,
Ko Kiriana Bird tōku ingoa.
I'm a general practitioner at Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga, which is a Māori health provider in Hastings. Our catchment area is Flaxmere, Raureka, Camberley.
A general practitioner is a doctor who specialises in family medicine. In GP land you've got to know a little bit about every single thing. So someone might come in to you about an eye problem, so you've got to know all about the eye and what you're going to do with this patient. Or someone might come in and say, 'Oh, my toe's sore,' and you've got to think, 'Oh, okay, what are all the things about the toe?'
So it crosses all systems in the body, from the brain, to the heart, the lungs, the eyes, the ears, the mouth – everything.
I went to St Joseph's Māori Girls' College, the University of Auckland to do my medicine. Like the mahi itself wasn't hard, but the commitment is hard, I think that was the main thing. If you had, if you could stick at it, going to lectures every day, getting your assignments in and doing all that, it wasn't actually the... It wasn't difficult, but it was just keeping at it.
So if you're interested in being a Māori doctor, grab one of your teachers, grab one of your careers advisers, have a kōrero to them and see if they can help you. And if they can't, come down to Hastings by me and have a kōrero with me.
Together with Kia Ora Hauora, let's see Māori living careers in health.
Kia Ora Hauora.
To become a general practitioner you need to:
complete the Health Sciences First Year programme at Otago University, or the first year of either the Bachelor of Health Sciences or Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Science at Auckland University
complete a five-year Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) degree at Otago or Auckland
work for two years as a house officer (supervised junior doctor) in a hospital
complete another three years of specialist training and examinations to become a Fellow of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners.
You also need to be registered with the Medical Council of New Zealand.
University of Otago website - information about the Health Sciences First Year programme
University of Otago website - information about the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery
University of Auckland website - information about the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery
Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners website - information about becoming a general practitioner
Medical Council of New Zealand website - information about general practice training
The Vulnerable Children Act 2014 means that if you have certain serious convictions, you can't be employed in a role where you are responsible for, or work alone with, children.
Ministry of Justice website - information on Vulnerable Children Act requirements
NCEA Level 3 is required to enter tertiary training. Useful subjects include maths, chemistry, physics, biology and English.
Personal requirements
General practitioners need to be:
patient and concerned for others
able to work well under pressure and remain calm in emergencies
able to make good decisions, and solve problems
good at time management
able to keep information confidential
able to show empathy and compassion, and relate to people from various cultures and backgrounds
understanding of other cultures' attitudes to medical treatment.
If sick people touch your heart you'll do well. You want to help people but you have to be able to think outside the square and be prepared to be different.
Useful experience
Useful experience for general practitioners includes:
work in hospitals or other health-related work, such as in a clinic
work in a pharmacy
work with community groups that involves a wide variety of people.
General practitioners need to have good eyesight (with or without corrective lenses) and good hearing.
General practitioners need to be registered with the Medical Council of New Zealand.
Medical Council of New Zealand website - information about general practitioner registration
Find out more about training
Medical Council of New Zealand (MCNZ)
0800 286 801 - www.mcnz.org.nz
Royal NZ College of General Practitioners (RNZCGP)
(04) 496 5999 - www.rnzcgp.org.nz
Check out related courses
What are the chances of getting a job?
Many factors contribute to a shortage of general practitioners
Factors leading to a shortage of general practitioners include:
low numbers of graduates choosing general practice as their preferred speciality
New Zealand's growing and ageing population, which means more people visiting general practitioners
an ageing workforce, with 44% of general practitioners planning to retire in the next ten years
some general practitioners moving overseas for better pay and working conditions
a worldwide shortage of doctors, including general practitioners, which means that it can be hard for New Zealand to attract general practitioners from overseas to work here.
General practitioner appears on Immigration New Zealand's long-term skill shortage list. This means the Government is actively encouraging skilled general practitioners from overseas to work in New Zealand.
According to the Census, 5,616 general practitioners worked in New Zealand in 2018.
Nature of general practitioner job changing
The job of general practitioner is changing because of:
more general practitioners working in private practices part time and pursuing a portfolio-style career (for example, a combination of general practice, special interest practice and referrals, clinical governance and teaching)
new models of care that connect primary care, community services and hospitals
an increasing need for community care, with more people living with long-term conditions and co-morbidities (more than one disease)
new technologies, such as artificial intelligence and 3-D printing, being successfully used to solve medical problems
virtual consultations and online medical forums becoming more popular.
Extra payment for graduates working in hard-to-staff locations
The Ministry of Health runs a voluntary bonding scheme, with additional payments aimed at recruiting more graduate doctors to work in locations that are hard to staff, such as rural and remote areas, and specialist areas that are hard to staff, such as general practice.
Medical practices main employers of general practitioners
Most general practitioners are employed by a medical practice on a full or part-time basis, or as a locum (a general practitioner who fills in when others are away), or are self-employed in their own practice. They may also be employed by a district health board.
Baddock, K, chair, New Zealand Medical Association, Careers New Zealand interview, May 2017.
Immigration New Zealand, 'Long Term Skill Shortage List', 19 February 2018, (www.immigration.govt.nz).
Kiwi Health Jobs, 'Health Workforce New Zealand - General Practice', January 2017, (www.kiwihealthjobs.com).
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, '2006-2014 Occupation Data' (prepared for Careers New Zealand), 2015.
Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners, 'Ownership and Employment Workforce Survey 2016' accessed May 2017, (www.mcnz.org.nz).
Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners, 'Technology Workforce Survey 2016', accessed May 2017, (www.mcnz.org.nz).
Stats NZ, '2018 Census Data', 2019.
Tan, J, general practitioner (MBChB), Central Wellington Medical Centre, Careers New Zealand interview, May 2017.
(This information is a guide only. Find out more about the sources of our job opportunities information)
Progression and specialisations
General practitioners may progress to teach students. They may also own their own practice, often in conjunction with other general practitioners.
General practitioners can further develop their skills in areas such as:
obstetrics (childbirth)
geriatric medicine (working with the elderly)
paediatrics (working with children)
palliative care (lessening pain).
General practitioners spend most of their day talking with, examining and treating patients
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