Young GP and his ‘poppa’ see eye to eye - Family affair as general practice returns to Rotorua

It was a family affair at the Rotorua GP CME for long-time attendee and Palmerston North GP John Geard, who was joined this year by grandson Ben Gilmore.

I saw what a good life he had, how he provided for his family and how much he enjoyed his job

Both hail from Palmerston North, where Dr Geard is based at Victoria Medical Centre. Dr Gilmore is a GP registrar in Auckland.

The two were pleased to have the op­portunity to attend the conference together, especially as it was Dr Gil­more’s first GP CME and Dr Geard’s last, as he plans to retire next March.

Becoming a GP isn’t exactly a family trend – there are no other doctors in the family – but Dr Gilmore says he was inspired from a young age by his “pop­pa” to pursue a general practice career.

“I saw what a good life he had, how he provided for his family and how much he enjoyed his job.

“I had a brief stint with cardiology and I really enjoyed it but, after some time in the hospital, I realised you get way more out of general practice.”

Dr Gilmore chose to study and work in Auckland for social reasons, and now finds himself as a first-year registrar in south Auckland, an area that resonates with him. “The clientele base is a very diverse one, culturally, ethnically.

“There’s such a range of different pa­tients, from the worried well, to those who aren’t so well but aren’t worried,” he says.

DR GEARD STARTED as a house surgeon in 1979, having a stint in psychiatry be­fore moving to general practice in Palm­erston North in 1981.

“I enjoyed that patient contact,” he says. “You get to know them better than you would as a hospital con­sultant, you get that long-term relationship with them all the time. Not just dealing with medical issues, but social ones too.”

While he readily forgave Dr Gilmore for deciding to study medicine in Auckland, rather than fol­lowing in his footsteps at the Universi­ty of Otago, Dr Geard was a little disappointed his grandson didn’t want to buy his practice.

“That’s probably my biggest regret – I should have gone in as soon as Poppa said he was selling,” Dr Gilmore says ruefully.

“But I took a year off to travel. I tried to make it as a professional gamer, but that obviously didn’t work.”

He has no plans for practice owner­ship for the time being, but focuses on enjoying his work. “It’s not on my radar at the moment, it’s already a great job and a great income.”

Dr Gilmore says he doesn’t under­stand why medical students shun gen­eral practice. He calls it a great life, and says the working hours are reasonable. He, too, enjoys the long-term relation­ships with patients, adding: “You can prevent illness, and really make a difference, right at the start.”

In light of the GP shortage, Dr Geard questions whether the medical schools are doing enough to encourage people to pursue general practice.

He supports the idea of a third med­ical school with a GP focus, as proposed by the University of Waikato.

Dr Gilmore says many GPs are over­run, trying to see more patients than is feasible, and those patients have in­creasingly complex lists of issues.

They can’t afford to wait for an ap­pointment and, if they can’t be seen the same day, end up somewhere else, often secondary care.

He would like more done to ensure primary care is sustainable and reaches the people who need it most.