INTRODUCTION
ALTHOUGH THERE are many types of good doctors, this article deals exclusively with some of the characteristics that good primary care physicians try to attain as they deliver medical care to adult patients who come to their offices. However, the concepts presented here apply regardless of where the patient is seen and are used by good subspecialists and consultants because the goal of most practicing doctors is to provide excellent medical service for the patients they attend.
Obviously, other observers of the medical scene would discuss other attributes that good primary care physicians try to attain. So what is written here is merely one observer's view.
When a good primary care physician sees a single patient, he or she tries to put aside the concern about unfair malpractice lawsuits that are driving some doctors out of the profession; the cost of modern drugs that seem to be magnified by a . . . [Full Text of this Article]
WHAT ARE THE ATTRIBUTES THAT A GOOD DOCTOR TRIES TO ATTAIN
IN THE 21st CENTURY AND WHO HAS THE TEMERITY TO LIST THEM?
THE INITIAL VISIT AND EXAMINATION
The Medical History
The Physical Examination
Other Methods of "Routine" Examination
Putting It All Together
The Use of High Technology
Communication With the Patient
After the Examination
THE SCIENCE OF MEDICINE
THE REACTION OF THE PATIENT TO THE DISEASE
THE GOOD DOCTOR'S DEMEANOR
SO WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?
CONCLUSIONS
