Going to a doctor isn’t always a pleasing experience for many. Naturally, it’s a dreaded one, filled with so much anxiety. But, with the right doctor, this doesn’t always have to be the case. Going and talking with your primary care physician is going to feel as if you’re talking with a friend.
When you have a good relationship with your primary care physician, all the more that you’re going to look forward to your appointments. Plus, treatment won’t have to feel like it’s too much to handle. While each doctor is unique from each other, there are universal characteristics that you should look for in a primary care doctor.
What are the qualities of an excellent primary care physician? Read through to find out.
1. Good Listener
A primary care physician should be a good listener. In fact, an excellent and reputable doctor should know that listening is one of the most important parts of working as a primary care physician.
Here are ways to determine if your primary care physician is a good listener or not:
- They don’t rush their patient whenever they tell you their story.
- They don’t become judgmental to the woes of their patient, even if it may seem as if they may be over-reacting, for instance.
Note that when it comes to talking to a physician, communicating information adequately is just as important as the information that has to be let out per se.
2. Empathetic
An empathetic primary care physician is one that understands and relates to the feelings of their patients. When a doctor is empathetic, there’s a higher chance of success that their patient is going to cure and heal. After all, the patient is also more responsive to a doctor when they feel like their concerns are understood and heard.
When primary care physicians model empathy, patients also become happier. They gain more strength to continue going on whatever treatment method their doctor gives them.
3. Conservative
Good primary care physicians are conservative in nature. They don’t just prescribe treatments as it is, without considering other options. For example, if there are patients that are too sensitive to synthetic medicines, then an excellent primary doctor should factor this, too.
The doctor will also strive first to take the lifestyle and behavior of the patient into consideration. The doctor should be open-minded enough to take in other measures such as a lifestyle change, before putting you on medicines or a rigorous treatment.
Especially for lifestyle diseases, for instance, change in exercise and diet regimes can often help to improve the condition of the patient.
4. Passionate About Their Profession
When you walk into the clinic of your primary care physician, do you feel the warmth and passion that they have? Do they greet patients with a smile, or are they cold? When they arrive in their clinic, do they look happy? Or is stress eating the best of them?
No matter the workload that physicians have, if they love what they do, they should be able to show a deep sense of passion for their job.
No patient will ever want to waste their time dealing with a doctor who doesn’t care about their job. A passionate doctor is one that has that genuine desire to help their patients be healthy and better.
5. Excellent At Their Job
More than just the characteristics of the primary care physician, you should also be concerned about the skills and educational qualifications of the doctor.
When you’re going to spend hard-earned money on your doctor, you wouldn’t want this to go to waste. Plus, even more importantly, your health is at stake, too. If your health is in the hands of an inefficient primary care physician, then your health may also deteriorate.
A good way for you to browse through the skills and certifications of your primary care physician is to browse through their website. If you’re in Oswego NY, you can check oswegohealth.org.
Conclusion
These qualities combined can help foster trust, respect, and a good relationship between the primary care physician and the patient. Often, for the treatment to function well, the doctor and the patient need to have a harmonious relationship with each other.
Especially for patients, they’ll also want to be comfortable with the doctor that they’re working for their health. After all the stress that they go through, the last thing that these patients need is to be with a doctor who doesn’t seem to have their best interest at heart.