A GP, or general practitioner, is a doctor who provides broad, front-line medical care rather than focusing on a single organ system or disease. GPs diagnose and treat a wide range of health problems across all age groups, from newborns to older adults. They are typically the first doctor you see for a new symptom, a chronic condition, or a routine checkup, and they decide whether you need to see a specialist.
What a GP Actually Does
A GP’s scope of practice isn’t defined by a specific set of diagnoses or procedures. It’s defined by whatever health concern walks through the door. That means managing common complaints like back pain, infections, and allergies, but also recognizing signs of serious disease, uncovering conditions that haven’t shown obvious symptoms yet, and coordinating long-term care for chronic illnesses like diabetes or high blood pressure.
On the preventive side, GPs handle the screenings and vaccinations that keep problems from developing in the first place. That includes cancer screenings (breast, cervical, colorectal, and lung for high-risk patients), annual flu shots, COVID-19 vaccines, routine bloodwork, and counseling on diet, exercise, and mental health. They also perform a surprising number of in-office procedures. According to an American Academy of Family Physicians census, 74% of family physicians perform skin procedures like biopsies, 65% give musculoskeletal injections for joint pain, and about a third do spirometry (a breathing test for asthma or COPD). Smaller percentages perform vasectomies, allergy testing, and ultrasound imaging.
GP vs. Family Physician in the US
In the United States, the terms “general practitioner” and “family physician” are often used interchangeably, but they have a meaningful technical difference. Family medicine became a recognized medical specialty in 1969, with its own board certification through the American Board of Family Medicine. To earn that certification, a doctor must complete a three-year residency specifically designed for community-based primary care, then pass a board exam.
A general practitioner, by contrast, historically entered practice after just one to two years of hospital-based training that wasn’t tailored to primary care. There is no board certification in general practice recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties. A study in the Annals of Family Medicine found that only 1% of self-identified GPs had completed three years of family medicine residency, while 91% received their postgraduate training in non-family-medicine specialties. GPs in the US also tend to be older, reflecting the fact that the GP pathway was more common before family medicine residencies became the standard.
In practical terms, most primary care doctors you’ll encounter today in the US are board-certified family physicians, not GPs in the traditional sense. But because no federal or state law regulates how physicians label their specialty to the public, the “GP” label persists in everyday conversation.
How GPs Differ From Internists
Internal medicine doctors (internists) also work in primary care, but they focus exclusively on adults aged 18 and older. Their training emphasizes diagnosing complex medical situations where multiple conditions overlap in a single patient. Family physicians, on the other hand, train more broadly: they learn pediatric care, obstetric care, and procedures that internists typically leave to other specialists. If you’re looking for one doctor to see your whole family, including children, a family physician is the better fit. If you’re an adult with several interacting health conditions, an internist may offer deeper expertise in that specific area.
The Gatekeeper Role
In many healthcare systems, GPs serve as gatekeepers. This means you see your GP first, and they decide whether your problem requires a specialist, hospital admission, or advanced diagnostic testing. The gatekeeper model is designed to keep healthcare costs under control and make sure specialist resources go to patients who genuinely need them.
This role is more formalized in some countries than others. In Norway, for example, patients generally cannot show up at a hospital emergency room without first contacting a GP or an out-of-hours primary care doctor. Norwegian registry data shows that GPs and out-of-hours doctors refer a substantial share of emergency hospital admissions, ranging from around 46% to 52% depending on the condition. In the United Kingdom, general practice is the standard entry point into the National Health Service, and referrals from your GP are typically required before you can see a specialist. Home visits from GPs remain common in the UK, while in the US they have largely disappeared, with seriously ill patients directed to the emergency room instead.
In the US, the gatekeeper model is less rigid. Some insurance plans, particularly HMOs, require a referral from your primary care doctor before covering a specialist visit. Others, like PPO plans, let you see a specialist directly, though you may pay more out of pocket for it.
Training to Become a GP or Family Physician
In the US, the path to becoming a family physician starts with a four-year undergraduate degree, followed by four years of medical school, and then a three-year family medicine residency. Some residency programs offer a four-year track, and combined programs that pair family medicine with another specialty like psychiatry can take five years. After residency, the doctor sits for a board certification exam and must maintain that certification through ongoing education and periodic re-examination throughout their career.
In the UK, the route is slightly different. Medical school typically takes five years straight out of secondary school, followed by a two-year foundation program and then three years of GP specialty training. The end result is similar: a doctor trained to handle the full spectrum of health problems that people bring to a primary care office, with the judgment to know when something needs a specialist’s hands.