I have been a GP for 10 years; a graduate of the Gloucestershire GPVTS and my main clinical role is as a 5 session Partner at Churchdown Surgery. I am also a GP Trainer and Training Program Director which takes up another 3 sessions. I became a Training Program Director because I was motivated to get involved in GP education by my own trainer who was really inspiring and enthusiastic about teaching. I really enjoy the diversity of work that comes with my different roles. There is a lot of overlap between my three roles and I hope that being a GP Trainer makes me a better GP – and being a Training Programme Director makes me a better GP Trainer. There is also some flexibility of my education role so I can also schedule my work to fit around family time. Finally, I am constantly learning new things from trainees and find that working alongside them helps me critically evaluate my work as a GP and keep my practice up to date. However, like all jobs there are challenges.
There can be a lot of emails to keep on top of and I must be disciplined not to check my inbox late at night or at weekends.