The Eight A’s of being a Good Doctor

What makes a good medical practitioner? The doctor who prescribes whatever medication is requested may be perceived by the patient as being good, but will probably not be considered a good doctor by his/her peers. The government may consider a good doctor to be one who orders minimal amounts of pathology, but patients will not think s/he is good if diagnoses are missed as a result. Many individuals and groups have tried to define the parameters of a good medical practitioner, but most of these definitions have been extraordinarily convoluted and obtuse. If others have tried and failed, why shouldn’t I try to do better? Below are delineated the characteristics of a good doctor in simple terms that can be listed (in strict alphabetical order) as the eight A’s of a good medical practitioner.

ACCESSIBLE

No matter how good a doctor may be in other criteria, if s/he is up three flights of stairs at the back of a dingy building, patients will be inconvenienced. Ideally, the doctor should be easily accessible at ground level with ramp access, good parking and handy to public transport.

ACCURATE

A medical practitioner must be accurate in his/her prescribing, accounting and certification. Errors in prescribing or other forms of treatment may be fatal. Inaccuracies in accounting may lead to patient inconvenience, or charges of over servicing. Certificates for a vast range of organisations and purposes must be completed accurately to be fair to both the patient and the insurance company, government department, law enforcement agency etc. who are the other party to the document.

ACUMEN

The clinical acumen of a doctor is what will be judged by his professional association, peers, and ultimately his patients. The ability to piece together a complex history, examination and set of investigational results to make a diagnosis and decide upon appropriate treatment is the sine qua non  of medical practice.

AMIABLE

The good doctor must be friendly in a professional way, and able to relate to patients of all types be they infants or elderly, workers or retirees, rich or poor, clean or dirty, sober or drunk. The range of patients who must be able to relate amiably to their medical practitioner covers the entire spectrum of the human race.

APPROACHABLE

Patients must be able to feel that they can approach their doctor with any problem. As experienced doctors know, the range of problems that may present can range from the clinically critical, to the embarrassingly personal, and complex social interactions. If the patient cannot readily approach their doctor with these problems, s/he is not a good doctor.

ASTUTE

To be astute enough to know when a patient is hiding information from you, deliberately misleading you, is unable to reveal personal details or is suffering symptoms stoically, will give a good doctor the ability to deal with his/her patients and their problems better.

ATTRACTIVE

The term attractive is not used in the beautiful or handsome context, but a good medical practitioner’s appearance must be conducive to professional respect without appearing to put the doctor on a pedestal away from the patient. A clean, neatly dressed doctor will be able to react better with his/her patients than an untidy, poorly dressed one. A doctor should look like a friend, not a vagabond.

AVAILABLE

Patients expect their doctor to be available seven days a week, 24 (or 25 it sometimes seems) hours a day. This is impractical for any prolonged period of time, but doctors must have hours that suit their patient’s needs (eg: evening sessions) and on call arrangements that a fair to the needs of both doctor and patient.