Nearing the end of my GP training and applying for jobs for the future is both exciting and terrifying. At the beginning of this journey I take a moment to consider how my job will change in the next 40 years that I may be working. In 2040, what will we be doing when patients come to consult with us?
The tools and rituals of the GP’s trade have not altered greatly in the past 50 years although the substance of the job has. Notes are now kept on a computer but the stethoscope, ophthalmoscope, and BP cuff would be entirely familiar to a previous generation. Although we might refer patients for advanced tests and scans in day-to-day practice in my general practice training rotations, the most advanced piece of kit I’ve used has been …