Characteristic of a Good Physician

The other day one of my female patients played the race card and said she thought Black physicians were incompetent. Unfortunately, I am told that a lot of Black folk feel that way about African American physicians. Recently, research was done at the Mayo Clinic addressing what patients feel make a good physician black or white. Here are a few characteristics that patients say are important. A good physician is thorough. He or she must “Leave no stone unturned,” when it comes to finding out the problem. Good physicians are compassionate, personal, forthright, and respectful. Good physicians give personal attention to his or her patients. There is a new characteristic called “Clue management skills that has been ascribed to good physicians. Clue management skills involve informative physicians that provide detailed explanations about medical problems, follow up in a timely fashion with patients and other physicians, and express to patients a desire to consult with other clinicians about their medical problem when the answer to a medical condition is not clear. These physicians also use state of the art medical practices. I hope you have a good physician. I am Dr. Thaddeus John Bell closing the gap in healthcare.