If you desire a career as a doctor then you will already be more than aware of the intelligence which you need, plus the grades which you’ll need to achieve this position. What you may not be too aware of however is the skillset that is required to accompany these high grades, that will help you to become a great doctor. I recently spent some time in a hospital in Texas, and was lucky enough to spend some time with the incredible Dr. Roger Olade, Texas resident and one of the most respected people in the hospital. I was curious to find out about what skills a doctor should portray, and Dr. Olade was more than happy to discuss this with me, here is what the highly respected Texan doctor had to say.
Perfectionist
To be great in the job a doctor must be a perfectionist, always on the lookout for the greatest possible result. With this perfectionism comes an eye for detail and in the world of medicine those details are vitally important when it comes to diagnosing a patient. Furthermore for anyone to study medicine and do well, they too will need to be someone that is constantly seeking perfection.
Realist
Doctors are truly great individuals who have the capability to do outstanding things on the human body yet there are limits and a doctor must realize these. This is not to say that a doctor should be a defeatist in the face of a curable disease or disorder, but rather that they should be realistic in accepting things that they cannot change. Here in Texas Dr. Olade works with internal medicine, an area which shows us time and time again the limitations that medicine has.
Empathetic
Back in the day we used to think that doctors should be function and void of emotion but those days are gone and in modern medicine we want out doctors to understand our plight, and be caring as they soothe our pain. Doctors should be conscious of a person’s situation and make sure that they offer empathy to help them through it.
Communication Skills
Some doctors do have a reputation for being slightly awkward socially but it is very important that a good doctor knows how to speak to both patients and colleagues. In many cases when there is an illness, doctors will need to work together from different branches of medicine to help the patient, and to do that requires strong communication skills.
Leadership
Doctors must display leadership when it comes to their patients, this includes how they lead the other doctors as well as how they lead the nursing staff. When a doctor has the responsibility of a patient, they are the project of the doctor and they must be the one to call the shots on every decision that is made. Not enough people speak about leadership but it is certainly something that each doctor will need in their career.