Occupational stress among general practitioners Available to Purchase

John Berger, in his well‐known book ‘A Fortunate Man’, drew an idealistic portrait of a country general practitioner whose high commitment to his vocation and a life of dedicated service to his patients and the community had brought self‐fulfillment and contentment of the highest order. Much of this, it was implied, was due to the traditional role of the GP in society, the implicitly rewarding nature of the helping relationship, the positive bond that grows between a family practitioner and his patients, and the status and rewards that the individual doctor could be assured of as part of his role. It would be interesting to speculate how many of the UK's GPs could recognise themselves in this portrait.