Occupation

Family physician

Family physicians provide continuing, first-contact medical care to people of all ages, handling whatever walks through the door and referring on when a case needs specialist input. The distinguishing feature of the work is breadth and relationship over time rather than depth in one organ system. A meaningful share of the day is documentation, results review, and coordination rather than consultation.

Also known as: General practitioner · GP · Family doctor · Primary care physician

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Occupation content

Part of Healthcare and clinical services

A visual day in the work

What the work involves

  1. See scheduled and urgent patients, taking histories and performing focused examinations.

  2. Order investigations, review incoming results, and act on abnormal findings.

  3. Diagnose and manage acute illness alongside long-term conditions across a patient list.

  4. Prescribe, adjust, and review medications, including deprescribing where appropriate.

  5. Refer to specialists, allied health, and community services, and follow up on those referrals.

  6. Maintain the clinical record and complete the reports, forms, and certificates the system requires.

Entry-route stepper

How people commonly enter

  1. A medical degree followed by postgraduate training in family or general practice.

  2. A graduate-entry medical programme entered after a first degree in another subject.

  3. An assessment, examination, and supervised-practice route for physicians qualified elsewhere.

Typical training: Postgraduate or professional degree

Licensing: Regulated in most jurisdictions. Confirm the current requirement with the regulator in your province, state, or country.

Work-context map

Typical work context

  • Team based
  • Public facing
  • High responsibility
  • Varied work
  • Fast paced
  • Desk based

Team based · Public facing · High responsibility · Varied work · Fast paced · Desk based

Related interests

  • Investigative (analytical)
  • Social (helping)

Investigative (analytical) · Social (helping)

Related aptitude preparation

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Skills to practise

Practice suites

Related learning

Family-level learning links for Healthcare and clinical services.

Official sources

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Labour-market context (not part of exploration match)

This is broad family-level context for Healthcare and clinical services in Canada, not a figure for Family physician. It does not affect matching scores and is not an eligibility determination.

This is a broad Healthcare and clinical services family. Explore the official profile for the chosen occupation; entry education and training can differ within the family.

Canada Job Bank Career Planning · Canada · Current official profile; consult source for its release period

Healthcare and clinical services: education pathways

Some roles in Healthcare and clinical services may be regulated. Confirm whether the specific role requires registration, certification, or a jurisdiction-specific licence.

Canada Job Bank Career Planning · Canada · Current official profile; consult source for its release period

Healthcare and clinical services: licensing

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