Orange is considered a medical hub but the city could use more general practitioners according to a long-standing doctor who says some are postponing retirement to prevent causing a GP shortage.
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Dr David Howe has been a GP since 1984 and has seen many changes to the industry in that time including reduced popularity of the occupation.
"It's probably pretty tight at the moment, I think there's a few GPs on the brink of retiring," Dr Howe said.
"We could currently do with more GPs in Orange but its not as bad as the small country towns where they are calling out for one."
However, he said there are still new GPs starting their careers as registrars in Orange.
"There are a few practices that are taking on GP registrars," Dr Howe said.
"At a lot of general practices you can see a GP registrar who is working under the supervision of a GP.
"The first year ones are probably a bit green but the third years are as good as any other GPs in town."
He said larger practices are more likely to take on and attract registrars but he's hoping to get one next term.
"When I started off in medical school, a GP was my idea of what a doctor is," Dr Howe said.
"I think the life of a GP has changed quite a lot. When I first started I did a lot of hours and a lot of on calls and took it as more of a vocation as opposed to a job and today's tend to work on the clock.
"The attraction of general practice has declined."
However, he said GPs are still important and in addition to general healthcare and treating or identifying illnesses they are also vital for mental health and aged care, and they play a "very important role in day-to-day life".
However, Dr Howe said the remuneration is not as good as it used to be.
We could currently do with more GPs in Orange but its not as bad as the small country towns where they are calling out for one.
- Dr David Howe
"It's not as high paying as it once was," he said,
Dr Howe said Medicare rebates have barely shifted in the last year affecting both doctors and patients.
"Not as many GPs can bulk bill as they once did," he said.
He said the role of a GP has also changed significantly over the course of the past 38 years.
"I think general practice and medicine in general has changed a lot. When I first started GPs did a lot more."
Since then many medical students have changed their focus to high-paying specialist fields.
Dr Howe said GPs did their own obstetrics and all GPs had access rights to the hospital and a couple of GPs even did minor surgery. Specialists were for cases where a GP couldn't handle it.
"Now there's only a handful of GPs who have visiting rights at the hospital, we manage sexual assault services, I'm still a GP obstetrician," he said.
"I think most of the GPs now don't have hospital access, [or] they do with the emergency department."
Dr Howe said the hospital now appears to be dominated by visiting staff specialists.
However, he said how GPs operate and what their vacancy rate is like varies from practice to practice.
"A lot of patients who are happy to see their own GP are happy to wait."
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