A recruitment video has been released to encourage medical students to consider a career as a GP.
Launched by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), the three-minute film features doctors talking about the varied challenges of general practice.
The video is part of a wide scale initiative which aims to promote general practice as a specialism for future medical staff.
This comes as the RCGP announced that at least 10,000 extra GPs will be needed by 2020.
The film will be shown at a series of regional roadshows around the UK next week, timed to coincide with the recruitment round when medical graduates decide their training specialty.
Dr Maureen Baker, the chairwoman of the RCGP, said: “Reality programmes and dramas set in hospitals are always fast-paced and thrilling.
“But programmes about being a GP are very few and far between, and mostly reinforce outdated stereotypes about GPs handing out cough medicine and referring the more difficult cases to consultants.
“This video – and the GPs who appear in it – show that nothing could be further from the truth.
“While it might be unusual for a medical royal college to make a promotional video, we hope it will make a tangible impact.”
Last year, 1,527 of the 7,341 doctors who completed foundation training chose to work in general practice, with particular shortages in the East Midlands, North West, North East of England and Yorkshire and Humber.
As well as the shortfall in recruitment to training places, the number of unfilled GP posts has gone up from 2.1% in 2010 to 7.9% in 2013.
During the last decade, patient numbers have rapidly increased due to the UK’s ageing and growing population. More than 90% of all NHS patient contacts take place in general practice with family doctors in England now making around 372m patient consultations every year – a rise of 60m since 2009/10.
