GP Syndrome

Abstract

When I joined the partnership I asked over tea, which in those days before vocational training was the main medium for learning about family medicine, why the previous doctor had left. The reply was unexpected. He had got G P Syndrome. I hadn't heard of that one before. I expected it to be another name for Burnout whereby professionals become discouraged and uncaring with gradual withdrawal and cynicism. No, they said, it wasn't quite like that. The previous partner had worked well for many years and was a good G P surgeon, as is often required in rural towns in Africa. He had started to worry about his ability to operate.