The medical profession isn’t an easy one. You must study for many years, and you must take difficult tests along the way. To earn your doctor’s status, though, you must go through a trial by fire. Only then can you help people who will trust you and put their lives in your hands.

That’s what people like Dr. Forough Farizani go through before they can open up their practices. By the time they become doctors, they’ve learned about many different conditions and seen them up close in humans.

If you’re thinking about becoming a doctor, you must have some particular qualities. It’s worth talking about those.

If you have these tendencies or capabilities, you might start on this journey. You can also consider whether the doctors you know have these qualities. If they don’t, you know their patients probably don’t like them much.

Patience

Doctors must be patient. You can easily say you have patience, but as a doctor, certain situations will undoubtedly come up that will test that quality like never before.

Sometimes, you’ll have a grouchy or bad-tempered patient. They might gripe and grouse the whole time you’re treating them. It’s not that surprising. Some people don’t like seeing doctors. They might act that way because they’re afraid.  

At the moment, the Covid-19 pandemic has made doctors tap into patience they never knew they had. Some patients staunchly insist they don’t believe they’ve caught the coronavirus, even when it’s already making them sick or threatening their lives.

Doctors in these situations must use saintlike patience. Some describe feeling frustrated, but they must still try to help anyone who comes to them seeking their aid.

Understanding and Compassion

Doctors must practice understanding as well. Some might encounter people who aren’t well-informed sometimes. They might meet people who have bad information or who did something that harmed them because they did not know any better.

A doctor must practice understanding and compassion when they meet these people and try to treat them. Doctors should want to help people. They should first do no harm, as the Hippocratic Oath says, but they must also treat sick and injured individuals who come into their care.

They must practice delicacy and tact, but they must also not shy away from telling someone something difficult. Sometimes, a doctor must tell someone that they’re very sick or even dying.

Not just everyone can do that. It challenges a doctor’s very humanity, and sometimes they only get better at this part of the job with after years on the job.

They must keep trying, though. As a doctor, they must do this at certain points during their career.

Good Collaborators

Doctors must know how to collaborate. They might meet other doctors and converse with them about a patient’s treatment.

Even if a doctor enjoys working alone, they can’t always do it. Consultations, whether in person, over the phone, or via a Zoom call, must happen sometimes.

They must learn how to communicate with other doctors and medical professionals. Often, they can only give a patient the best care when they function as a team.

Persistent Advocates

Doctors must stand up for their patients. Sometimes, they must spar with insurance companies over a patient’s care.

Since America does not have socialized medicine, doctors must sometimes communicate with private insurance companies. Those companies might say a patient does not need a certain treatment or medication.

The doctor might feel differently, and if so, they must tell the insurance company they’re right, and the company isn’t. These arguments take energy and determination, but doctors must advocate for patients when no one else will. The patient will surely appreciate that.

Curiosity

Doctors will often find out what’s happening with a patient with no issues. They will observe and examine them and decide whether they have a particular disease or some other condition.

Sometimes, though, a patient will show up with some strange or unusual symptoms. If that happens, the doctor can’t just give up and walk away. They must figure out what’s happening with that patient and continue running tests and coming up with theories until they get it right.

If you have all these qualities, then you can consider becoming a doctor. If you know any doctors that don’t have these tendencies, then you should seek out different ones. You need a doctor who has all these qualities and capabilities. Otherwise, you are not getting the best care.

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