While utilizing solutions such as medical transcription services can be beneficial for doctors, they should also focus on fostering certain good qualities.

1. Top 10 Qualities a
Good Doctor Must Have
While utilizing solutions such as medical transcription
services can be beneficial for doctors, they should also
focus on fostering certain good qualities.
2019
Medical Transcription Services
United States

2. www.medicaltranscriptionservicecompany.com 918-221-7809
Doctors have a significant influence over their patients, and most patients consider their
word as final when it comes to healthcare related matters. Patients also expect a lot
from their care providers, especially care and compassion. Many physicians are finding it
difficult to rise up to their patients’ expectations in the current EHR-driven world, though
many of them are utilizing EHR-integrated medical transcription services to save
time spent on medical documentation and focus more on patients. While physicians
recognize the benefits of EHR, they also complain that many systems used today are
cumbersome when it comes to providing quality care and also put pressure on the
physician. Many studies have shown that physicians using EHR are frustrated about the
clerical tasks they have to complete and are more likely to get stressed out. This affects
the patient care they provide as well as their productivity. The more committed doctors
are to patient care, the more frustrated they get when they can’t focus on patients.
When on the subject of doctors and their pain and passion, let us consider what goes
into making a good doctor. Dr. Ranjana Srivastava, in her article published in
theguardian.com, highlights 3 qualities that are a must for any aspiring doctor.
 Curiosity: Scientific knowledge and understanding are evolving rapidly, and
doctors must stay up to date with the latest information. Being curious about the
person who has the disease is important. Dr. Ranjana says, " I spend about as
much time prescribing chemotherapy to my patients as exploring who does their
groceries, tracking the progress of their spouse’s dementia, and checking
whether they can afford the bus fare to the hospital." For a doctor, it is much
more satisfying to treat the person rather than find out what the disease is.
 Reflection: One must reflect to grow. Sometimes, patients may not like the
doctor telling the truth about their gloomy prognosis. Patients may even leave
the doctor in such instances. It is natural for doctors to feel humiliated and
depressed if that happens. But doctors should understand that you can never be
too sensitive or too subtle when having such discussions with their
patients. Communication is an important element in a healthcare setup and most
complaints stem from poor communication. Doctors can choose to be secretive
and not disclose grim health details to their patients. However, that is not a wise
strategy. On the other hand, a good doctor will choose the right time to disclose
a health condition and the associated risks to the patient in the best way
possible.
 Empathy: Empathy is an important quality a doctor must have. There may be
rules that a sick patient must follow but it is empathy that helps decide what a
patient will do. Sometimes patients believe that doctors who show warmth are
less knowledgeable or less competent, and thus these doctors face a trade-off

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between being perceived as competent or as empathetic. But studies have shown
that doctors who displayed empathetic nonverbal behavior such as eye contact,
smiling, and uncrossed arms were perceived as both warmer and more
competent.
Now, here are 7 other qualities a successful doctor must have.
 Understanding: Understanding is the ability to think and act with what one
knows. For a doctor, learning for understanding is more like learning to have a
good conversation. According to David Perkins PhD, in the book Teaching for
Understanding: Linking Research with Practice, learning facts can be a crucial
backdrop to learning for understanding. In short, doctors should be able to
communicate with their patients effectively and the patients should understand
the doctors’ recommendations. Patients should not only have the knowledge but
must also be able to make decisions based on that knowledge.
 Honesty: Being honest with patients is part of the routine for doctors and it is in
the American Medical Association's Code of Medical Ethics. But modern medicine
can lead physicians to hide the truth from patients. According to a 2012
nationwide survey of nearly 1,900 practicing physicians, one-fifth of physicians
said that fudging the truth is not necessarily out of bounds. Some doctors are not
very honest with their patients. Studies, however, show that gravely ill patients
prefer honesty from their physicians.
 Commitment: Being committed to your profession is important for any job. In
the case of physicians, being committed is important for self-improvement.
Commitment protects individuals from the negative effects of stress as it enables
them to attach direction and meaning to their work. It also enables them to
resist the effects of stress and strain in their organizational environment.
 Competence: Most American Physicians meet a basic threshold of competence
to ensure that they have basic level of knowledge. Doctors quality includes their
soft skills like empathy that can be measured through patient survey. Focusing
on intellectual skills is also crucial to collaborate and effectively lead teams.
 Professionalism: To gain patients’ trust, doctors have to exude professionalism.
They should never look inattentive, impatient or dishevelled.
 Courage: Moral courage is important and often used in the medical field. It
refers to the voluntary willingness to stand up for and act on one's ethical beliefs.
Physicians often face situations where they need moral courage like caring for an
infectious patient, meeting an angry patient or family member, disclosing
medical errors and so on.

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 Optimism: Doctors have to encourage patients to be optimistic because patients
who are more optimistic tend to have a better life and better health outcomes.
Being optimistic is linked to a range of physical health benefits ranging from
reduced risk for cardiovascular diseases and stroke to healthier level of
antioxidants and lipids.
Today, focus on these qualities has dwindled as doctors are multi tasking between
medical documenting and providing healthcare. This does not allow physicians to focus
completely on patient care and causes physician burnout. While support solutions such
as medical transcription outsourcing services can be beneficial, it is on the part of
the physicians themselves to utilize these. Apart from finding ways to lighten their
administrative burden, physicians should also strive to ensure maximum communication
with their patients and provide words of confidence and encouragement that are so
important for patients.