Qualities of tomorrow's doctor

Abstract

The General Medical Council in England has published a document named "Tomorrow's Doctors" which outlines the best qualities every new doctor should aspire to. First page of this document lists 15 qualities that a doctor must have. OBJECTIVE: A quantitative assessment of the 15 qualities a doctor must have to decide on the degree of importance of each quality. METHODS: We interviewed 50 first year medical students, 50 final year medical students, 35 intern house officers, 25 consultants, and 200 outpatient attendees selected randomly using a questionnaire to find out the degree of importance they attach to the above 15 qualities. Participants were asked to give a mark from 1 to 15 to each quality giving 15 to the most important quality. RESULTS: New medical students thought a thorough knowledge of medicine is the most important quality of a doctor (score 14.36/15) and the final years thought that the care of your patient being the first concern as the most important quality (13.66/15). House officers thought that treating patients politely and respecting their dignity and privacy were the most important (14/15). Consultants thought that the care of your patient being your first concern was the most important (14.48/15) and having a thorough knowledge of Medicine as the least important (9.58/15). The general public considered a thorough knowledge of medicine (13.34/15) and the care of your patient being the first concern (13.49/15) as the most important and respecting the rights of patients to be fully involved in decisions about their care as the least important (9.83/15). CONCLUSIONS: Public and the new students consider having a thorough knowledge of medicine as very important and respecting the rights of patients to be fully involved in decisions about their care as the least important. Medical personnel especially the consultants thought that having a thorough knowledge of medicine is not so important for a young doctor.