General Practitioner Research Paper

Even as a young child, my dream career has been a family doctor. When I was three, I wanted to be a doctor with my mother as my nurse, and we would carpool to work together every day. Now that I am older and wiser, my reasoning behind wanting to fulfill my dream and become a general practitioner has changed drastically. Personally, I want to be a general practitioner because I have a huge interest in medicine and I want to be able to better my community. My personal skills match the suggested skills for this career. Some of these skills include obligation to caring for others, ability to perform under pressure, and capability to make swift decisions. Family doctors need to be able to have leadership, management, and communication skills. Some

Family medicine is expected to grow faster than the average career (Career: General Practitioner). With a population that is aging and growing, the population of general practitioner must grow as well (Family and General Practitioner). Across the country, the average salary for a general practitioner is around $186,320 and the annual mean wage of a family doctor in Indiana is $184,860 - $196,380 (Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2014, Family and General Practitioners). Unlike other careers, the annual salary for family doctors does not tend to increase much by experience (Family or General Practitioner Salary (United States)). This by far a comfortable salary, with the hourly wage averaging about $89.58 per hour (Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2014, Family and General Practitioners). Location wise, Indiana is in the second largest group on the map, with employment ranging from 1400 – 2990 (Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2014, Family and General Practitioners). The top five industries with the highest concentration of employment within family medicine are as follows going from greatest to the least: physician offices; outpatient care centers; general medical and surgical hospitals; psychiatric and substance abuse hospitals; and colleges, universities, and professional schools. This varies greatly from the top five top paying industries for family medicine, which are as follows going

Medical school, however, is very competitive and is not easy to be accepted into. First of all, in order to be accepted into medical school, a college degree is required (Medical School Requirements). There are also a few other options to add to your resume, such as research, physician shadowing, and volunteer service. Medical schools are looking for people who take time and effort to make a serious contribution, whatever the contribution may be (Medical School Requirements). Two factors that play a huge role in the fate of medical school admittance are GPA and MCAT scores. In 2013, the average applicant had a GPA of 3.54 and a MCAT score of 29 (Hause). The percent of acceptance rate of GPA is as follows: 51.9% for a GPA between 3.60 - 3.79; 36.1% for a GPA between 3.40 - 3.59; and 22.8% for a GPA between 3.20 - 3.39. The percent of acceptance rate of MCAT is as follows: 58.5% for a MCAT ranging from 30-32; 39.0% for a MCAT ranging from 27-29; and 18.7% for a MCAT ranging from 24-26 (MCAT and GPA Grid for White Applicants and Acceptees to U.S. Medical Schools, 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 (aggregated)). All together, the acceptance rate into medical school when comparing all GPA scores and all MCAT scores was 45.9% in 2014 (MCAT and GPA Grid for White Applicants and Acceptees to U.S. Medical Schools, 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 (aggregated)). There is promising news, however. Due to the