Doctor personality

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abc234

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Do you need to have a specific personality to be a good doctor?
What kind of traits are best?
Do you need to be really outgoing, easy to talk to etc?
 
Hmmm, I think doctors need to be kind, caring (or at least act like it 😛), creative, communicative (not necessarily outgoing, but with the ability to communicate clearly), adventurous, determined, bold, confident, adaptable, and honest. The most important aspect is getting the patient to develop a trusting relationship with the doctor, because I've noticed this tends to make life much easier for both. On-the-spot thinking and the capability to mediate conflict would be nice, as well. 😀 Sheesh, sounds like superman.
 
kind, caring, creative, communicative, adventurous, determined, bold, confident, adaptable, and honest. On-the-spot thinking and the capability to mediate conflict would be nice, as well. 😀

Woah! I didn't know you were writing my biography Algophiliac!
Thanks! lol 😀
 
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Do you need to have a specific personality to be a good doctor?
What kind of traits are best?
Do you need to be really outgoing, easy to talk to etc?

Watch House M.D, all the kinds of personality there.
 
You need to be able to stay on the right side of HIPAA. Also you need to be able to study for hours on end. Other than that, I've known doctors of all types of personalities. Not all of them are awesome doctors or even nice people, but they are doctors and people pay them to do their doctor stuff, so in that sense they're successful. Of course, being a decent human being helps in any job.
 
As you will see in med school and beyond, pretty much any personality can be a physician. Three things that help:

1. being naturally brilliant.

2. appreciating the value of hard work beyond just compensation.

3. being socially well-adjusted and genuinely interested in other people.

Do all physicians have these traits? Not by a long shot... but if you are naturally this way it will make the process a lot easier.
 
The only trait you actually need to have to become a physician is the ability to get into medical school...once you're there, you'll probably be a physician someday whether you're well-suited for it or not.

There are some things that I consider the marks of a good clinician though:

1) The ability to handle stress/trauma/emotional hardship very well.

2) Caring enough about the career (whether it is because of money, love of the work, etc) to actually want to sacrifice your time for it.

3) Ability to understand and think logically about the facts behind the diagnosis. Some call this being naturally intelligent. I prefer to think of it as being well-practiced.

4) Being a good listener and a good communicator. This is what will put patients at ease and hopefully keep them from suing you.

Everything else is negotiable. There are shy physicians and loud, borderline obnoxious physicians who are both great at what they do. There are those who love the money and those who love the people. There are those who are too sensitive, and those who are too callous...and they can all be amazing at what they do.
 
I wouldn't say you need to have been born with any particularl traits to become a doctor, if thats what you're worried about. Whatever you need to get by on the path to becoming a physician can be learned at perfected with enough practice.