If you want to work as a GP, the usual route is via six years in medical school, a one-year hospital internship and then a three-year structured training programme, explains Dermot Folan, director of management services with the Irish College of General Practitioners. Some 54 people are taken into GP training each year.

The three-year training breaks down into two years in hospital rotations - four six-month training posts, in specialisms such as paediatrics and psychiatry which are of relevance to general practice. The third year is spent in a designated training general practice. At the end of the training period, says Folan, doctors sit the ICGP membership exams.

If they are successful, they are eligible to apply for General Medical Services (GMS) posts - these allow them to treat medical card-holders who represent about 40 per cent of the patient population. While most GPs aspire to a partnership or their own practice, many will begin work as locums or assistants, says Folan. He advises would-be GPs to visit their own GP and find out what the work involves. The ICGP, which produces an information pack on a career as a GP, can be contacted at 45 Lincoln Place, Dublin 2.