Young people invited to help shape the future of general practice careers campaigns

NHS Dorset ICB and the Dorset General Practice Alliance are working with local students at Bournemouth University to explore new ways of talking about careers in general practice.

During a session today with BU media students, the Alliance and NHS Dorset talked to students about the many careers and roles in general practice.

In November alone, GP practices in Dorset delivered around 493,000 appointments, supported by a wide team of people working behind the scenes.

From digital and communications roles, to care coordinators, mental health support, and patient-facing staff, modern GP surgeries rely on a diverse workforce to meet the needs of local communities.

Students were invited to think about how these roles are seen by people their own age, and how creative content could help make GP careers more visible, relatable and appealing to younger audiences.

The challenge set was to help create a careers campaign made by young people, for young people, using real world channels such as Instagram, YouTube and a dedicated webpage.

This work supports the Alliance’s wider aim to help people better understand how general practice works today, and to support the future workforce by telling more accurate, engaging stories about the roles that keep local GP services running.

To find out more about this work, email casey.jeffery@dorsetgp.nhs.uk.

Lots of job roles exist in GP surgeries, but young people rarely hear about them.

If people don’t hear about them, they don’t choose it as a career path.