Qualitative Study of Medical Doctors on Their Experiences and Opinions of the Characteristics of Exceptionally Good Doctors

Abstract

Background: It is generally accepted that there is a therapist effect in psychotherapy, with master therapists being studied using qualitative methods. There are surgeons with exceptionally positive patients' physical health outcomes, and qualitative research on what makes good doctors. However, characteristics of exceptionally good doctors are less studied and understood. Objective: To qualitatively study the opinions of physicians on exceptionally good doctors. Methods: Thirteen semi-structured interviews of English-speaking medical doctors of any specialty were conducted. Recruitment was achieved through the authors' network; contacting authors of relevant research papers; and Bond University's General Practitioner recruitment program. Their opinion was sought on what makes an exceptionally good doctor, whether they have met such a person, what was their experience of that person, and whether they consider themselves as exceptionally good doctors. Analysis: A six-phase thematic analysis in an experiential framework, as per Braun and Clarke, was implemented to identify themes and their details in an inductive approach with a realist epistemological position, ie, assuming truthful knowledge on what makes exceptionally good doctors can be obtained. Results: Each interviewee had met and been inspired by exceptionally good doctors. Descriptions covered six themes: character traits; other characteristics; patient relationships; peer and health care system relations; education; and treatment examples. Exceptionally good doctors were found to have up-to-date extensive medical knowledge and skills, relate well with patients, and have excellent diagnostic abilities. They tend to be humble, approachable, inspiring, and are long-remembered role models. However, they may not always be appreciated by their peers and their health care system because of their exceptional abilities. Discussion and Conclusion: Exceptional doctors are beneficial for their peers, their patients, and their health care system. Identifying, acknowledging, and making such doctors more accessible to medical students and junior doctors could have a positive impact on medical practice.

Characteristics of exceptionally good Doctors—A survey of public adults

“…Initially all questions were derived from a qualitative study that interviewed 13 medical doctors on their experiences of exceptionally good doctors [ 38 ]. The authors conducted a pilot study with 210 respondents and employed a survey specialist with extensive consumer survey experience to improve the quality of the questions.…”

“…The participants were also asked 34 Likert questions, each listing a characteristic, derived from the previous qualitative study [ 38 ] – rating both the exceptionally good doctor and the average doctor on this characteristic using a scale from 1.0 (completely disagree) to 5.0 (completely agree) ( Table 6 ). All respondents were asked all 34 Likert questions for both types of doctors rather than random allocation to either Likert questions type to allow within person comparison of exceptional and average doctors.…”

“…None of the studies that identified exceptionally good doctors provided recommendations for further research or published further details of such exceptionally good doctors [ [33] , [34] , [35] , [36] , [37] ]. In a recent qualitative study [ 38 ], 13 medical doctors stated their thoughts on what are the characteristics of exceptionally good doctors, with being both exceptionally skilled and very good at patient communication considered important. The doctor experiences and definitions from the qualitative study were used to design the present cross-sectional survey of the general public on their opinions on what makes an exceptionally good doctor, and their experiences of such doctors [ 39 ].…”

Characteristics of Exceptionally Good Doctors: A Protocol for a Cross-Sectional Survey of Adults

“…This is an observational cross-sectional study, using a mixed qualitative and quantitative anonymous online survey design to collect data on patients’ perceptions of exceptionally good doctors. In particular, this is both an exploratory sequential design mixed methods study 50 as the authors previously interviewed 13 medical doctors about exceptionally good doctors 45 , 46 and used the insights gained to produce the quantitative part of this survey. It is also a convergent design mixed-method study 50 as the three qualitative questions and six questions with a free-text option “other” provide a more in-depth and personal perspective of the respondents.…”

“…In a qualitative study, we have interviewed a sample of medical doctors on their opinions of what makes an exceptionally good doctor. 45 , 46 These interviews have led to a set of characteristics that describe an exceptional doctor from the practitioner point of view.…”