I take your point, Tattie, but do you take mine? I'm not knocking GPs for not being specialists, but in the scientific sense, they are not, nor are your examples. They are 'better practiced' or 'more knowledgeable'. They aren't ENT or gynaecologists or... etcetera. Are they?

I've no down on GPs; being a GP is an art & science in itself. But if I really want to know the nitty-gritty of what's wrong with my X, I'd rather talk to an expert in X! ;-)