Medical Library
Five Ways to Stand Out as a Great Doctor
by Steven Brown, M.D., Ph.D.
©2008
Patients today have learned that doctors are just like any other group of people. Some of us are good, some are bad, and some are mediocre. The most discerning patients (and those are the ones we all want) evaluate us the same way we have evaluated each other since our training. How would your patients rate you in these five areas?
- Thoroughness
When I was an intern, one of my residents told me that there were only two reasons not to do a rectal exam: 1) no finger and 2) no rectum. Do you still demonstrate the same thoroughness you did as an intern? Do you ask about the patient’s entire medical background, or pretend you can get away with only focusing on the presenting problem while ignoring the rest? Patients know that the best doctors want to get the whole story.
- Communication
Do you listen carefully to the patient’s story? Do you take time to explain the problem and answer questions? Does your patient have to sit in front of the door to keep you from leaving? We are all under a lot of time pressure today. Costs of practice are rising, and payments from insurance companies are falling. Since we are paid based on how many patients we see, the only way to maintain our income is to see more patients in less time. If we take the time our patients need, we make less money in order to deliver better care. At the end of our careers, however, we will be more satisfied with a lifetime of outstanding medical care than with a bigger bank account. Discerning patients, and our colleagues, can tell the difference.
- Knowledge
When a patient asks why you are recommending one treatment over another, does your answer demonstrate knowledge of the medical literature? Would your answer have been acceptable on rounds when you were a resident? Or do you sound more like that old attending who, instead of quoting the medical literature, pontificates by saying, “In my clinical experience….?”
- Self-sacrifice
How quickly do you call back when you get a page? Is it seconds, minutes, or hours? Patients and staff know that a doctor who cares about his patients will call back quickly. What would your staff say about the time you spend with patients? Would they say you rush from one to the next, or would they say you consistently give patients the time they need? Would they describe you as selfish, or as self-sacrificing? We all want a doctor who makes us a priority. Can your patients tell stories about when you went the extra mile to help them?
- Character
The single factor that ties these areas together is our character. In the fishbowl of training, everyone knows the dirt on everyone else. In private practice, character is not always so obvious, but eventually our true colors come through. Have your patients seen you treat your staff badly? Do other doctors know you will go in to see a patient in the hospital when they need you? When a patient has an urgent problem, do you work them into your schedule, or put them off? Would your patients and staff say you treat them with respect? If we do not have good character, at some point it will affect our medical decisions. Our patients are completely vulnerable to us, and we must be sure that our character is above reproach.
Perceptive patients know that good character is a great reason to overlook minor annoyances, such as an unpleasant receptionist. Having a doctor with good character is also more important than bedside manner. If we display these properties, the best patients will seek us out and appreciate our sacrifices. They will know that they have found a truly great doctor, and we will know that we are achieving the high standard of quality and sacrifice that attracted us to medicine in the first place.