The Datum Report

Occupation 2211 · Professional occupations

Generalist medical practitioners

Half of full-time generalist medical practitioners in the UK earn more than £55,494 a year, and half earn less.

Generalist medical practitioners diagnose mental and physical injuries, disorders and diseases, prescribe and give treatment, recommend preventative action, and conduct medical education and research activities. They work in hospitals or in general practice and, where necessary, refer the patient to a specialist.

How people enter it

Entrants require a university degree from a medical school recognised by the General Medical Council followed by two years of pre-registration training as a house officer. Some medical schools operate graduate entry schemes. Once the pre-registration period as house officer is completed, further postgraduate training in a general practice training programme is completed

What the work involves

• examines patient, arranges for any necessary x-rays or other tests and interprets results
• diagnoses condition and prescribes and/or administers appropriate treatment
• administers medical tests and inoculations against communicable diseases
• supervises patient’s progress and advises on diet, exercise and other preventative action
• refers patient to specialist where necessary and liaises with specialist
• prepares and delivers lectures, undertakes research, and conducts and participates in clinical trials
• supervises the implementation of care and treatment plans by other healthcare providers

Also called

Doctor · General practitioner · House officer (hospital service) · Medical practitioner · Physician

What it pays

How pay has changed

Median gross annual pay for generalist medical practitioners, full-time employees, 2023 to 2025. Each point is that year's ASHE April snapshot as published — revisions are not backfilled into earlier years, and a year ONS withheld is a gap rather than a joined line.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Table

Year-on-year change

The change from each year to the next, in per cent, computed from the figures in the chart above — so the two cannot disagree.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Table

Pay by region

Median gross annual pay for full-time employees, ranked, against the UK figure. 5 of 11 regions are published: ONS withholds a cell where the survey sample cannot support it, and those are shown as gaps rather than dropped — an absent region is not a region without the work in it.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Period 2025. Table

Every regional figure

ONS does not publish occupational pay below region. Cells the survey could not support are shown as withheld, with its reason — adding a region split to a specific occupation leaves roughly a tenth of cells publishable.

Common questions

Classified alongside this

Specialist medical practitioners and consultants