Abstract
SummaryChanges in medical curricula have led to a shift of focus in medical education. The goal was to implement a more practical approach to teaching and thereby create better doctors. However, the question of what makes a good doctor is not easy to answer. This article gives an overview on the literature about this topic. A systematized review and narrative synthesis were conducted including 20 articles about the features of good doctors. Qualitative and quantitative studies as well as questionnaires were included. These studies reported research involving students, doctors, patients, and nurses. The resulting characteristics of good doctors fell into six categories: (1) General interpersonal qualities, (2) Communication and patient involvement, (3) Medical competence, (4) Ethics, (5) Medical management, (6) Teaching, research, and continuous education. The different stakeholders showed different ideas of the concept of a good doctor. Interestingly, patients had a stronger focus on communication skills, whereas doctors put more emphasis on medical skills. Balancing this discrepancy will be a challenge for future medical education.
Highlights
With the changes in medical curriculum, a new era of learning and teaching in medical education was started
Practical and communication skills have become significantly more important issues. These practical skills are taught in small groups in so-called “skills labs” or trained in simulated situations like in a simulated patient setting
Questionnaires and quantitative and qualitative data were included without any restrictions in quality or size of study population
Summary
With the changes in medical curriculum, a new era of learning and teaching in medical education was started. Before these changes, specialist fields were taught separately from each other. The content should be horizontally and vertically integrated. Practical and communication skills have become significantly more important issues. These practical skills are taught in small groups in so-called “skills labs” or trained in simulated situations like in a simulated patient setting. Standardized learning target catalogues and practical exams—OSCEs—were developed to examine the new learning content in an appropriate way. The goal was to implement a more practical approach to teaching and thereby create better doctors, to prepare them for the practical part of the job already during their education at the university—not afterwards in their first years of practice, as it was before
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