“What are the qualities of successful doctors?” is the question that both practicing medical doctors and medical students want to be answered. Of course, you are curious. After all, you want to be a successful doctor too. So, what makes them successful? Is it their excellent choice of medical schools? Their outstanding grades? To give you some tips on how to be a great physician someday, here are some of the qualities of successful doctors:
Successful doctors are excellent communicators
Social interaction is both inevitable and important in medical practice. Case in point: Dr. Cristina Yang of Grey’s Anatomy. Dr. Yang graduated received top honors from Stanford Medical School and got her PhD from Berkeley. She is a walking medical textbook with excellent surgical skills. So, what’s missing? People skills. Dr. Yang is not comfortable with communicating with her patients or good at delivering terrible news. You need to find a balance between medical aptitude and social skills to be a successful doctor. Patients are people too, and they need to be taken care of with enough sensitivity.
Successful doctors are keen observers
Great things, they say, come in small packages, and this still holds true when it comes to diseases and disorders. Malaria starts with a tiny mosquito bite. Cancer begins with a small malignant tumor. An eye for detail is very important in medical practice because it will help you in easily identifying the cause of an illness or the problem of a patient. A keen observation will help you save a person’s life. In medical practice, you have to stay curious and alert 100% of the time before things get worse. If you wish to have a successful career in medicine, then you should start practicing that Sherlock Holmes vigilance.
Successful doctor are time management experts
Yes, time management is very important in medical practice. Time management, however, doesn’t start with medical residency. It should start during medical school. Practicing excellent time management skills during medical school not only helps you study all your lessons well but it also helps you get more sleep. Organizing your daily activities into a tight schedule is very effective in fighting procrastination and laziness. If your schedule for studying biochemistry is from 8:00 to 10:30 pm only, then you must understand pyruvate oxidation by 10:30 pm. And if your schedule indicates that you need to be asleep from 12:00 midnight to 5:00 am, then you better be in bed once midnight strikes.
Photo Credit : Dwight Evans for Mayor
