Doctor, Hospital

Hospital doctors apply medical knowledge and skills to the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of illnesses. They may themselves treat the patients or they may refer them to a general practitioner (GP) or a different member of the health care professional team. Hospital doctors work in hospital wards and out-patient clinics in both the public and private sectors.

Working collaboratively with a wide range of other professionals, including nurses, radiologists, etc. across the health care sector. Most hospital doctors work in one of around 60 specialties, of which the most common are: anesthetics, cardiology, general medicine, general surgery, orthopedics, ophthalmology, pediatrics, pathology, psychiatry.

Typical activities are many and varied. Specific tasks depend on the specialty; a surgeon's daily tasks are significantly different from those of a doctor working in accident and emergency (A&E) or a general physician. However, the following responsibilities are likely to be carried out, regardless of the doctor's specialty, on a daily or weekly basis: monitoring and providing general care to patients on hospital wards and in outpatient clinics.

Admitting patients requiring special care, investigations and treatment, examining and talking to patients to diagnose their medical conditions, providing specific treatments, e.g. performing operations and inserting cardiac pacemakers, making notes, both as a record of treatment and for referral back to GPs in the community.

liaising with other medical and non-medical staff in the hospital to ensure quality treatment, working with other doctors as part of a team, both in the same department, and within other specialties, promoting health education, increasingly, undertaking managerial responsibilities such as planning the workload and staffing of the department, teaching and research.