Generalist medical practitioners

Generalist medical practitioners diagnose, treat and prevent illness, disease, injury, and other physical and mental impairments and maintain general health in humans through application of the principles and procedures of modern medicine. They do not limit their practice to certain disease categories or methods of treatment, and may assume responsibility for the provision of continuing and comprehensive medical care to individuals, families and communities.

Skill level: Highly skilled

Check your pay

  • The majority of Generalist medical practitioners earn a salary between R7 158 and R72 022 per month in 2024.
  • A monthly wage for entry-level Generalist medical practitioners ranges from R7 158 to R32 723.
  • After gaining 5 years of work experience, their income will be between R10 447 and R43 863 per month.

Check your pay

  • A Medical Doctor in human health and social work activities in scale 9 with 5 years or more experience earned minimum R34 989,00 and maximum R100 000,00 per month in 2019.

Duties and tasks

  • Conducting physical examinations of patients and interviewing them and their families to determine their health status
  • Ordering laboratory tests, X-rays and other diagnostic procedures and analysing findings to determine the nature of disorders or illnesses
  • Providing continuing medical care for patients including prescribing, administering, counselling on and monitoring curative treatments and preventive measures
  • Performing surgery and other clinical procedures
  • Advising individuals, families and communities on health, nutrition and lifestyle which aid prevention or treatment of disease and disorders
  • Providing referrals to patients and families for specialized care in hospitals, rehabilitation centres or other types of health care centres
  • Identifying, managing and providing referrals for complications before, during and after childbirth
  • Recording patients' medical information and history and exchanging information with specialist practitioners and other health workers as required for continuing medical care
  • Reporting births, deaths and notifiable diseases to government authorities to meet legal and professional requirements
  • Conducting research in human health and medical services and disseminating the findings such as through scientific reports
  • Planning and participating in programs designed to prevent the occurrence and spread of common diseases

Loading...