What characteristics make a good doctor?

It's clear for some doctors they're missing some if not all of these characteristics. I think about this recent buzz in school scandal, and the urge to get in the best to get the best job, yet not truly encompassing what it takes to do the job. To become a doctor is a huge thing and if you don't have the people skills such as- humility, compassion, then why bother. I think compassion is big on my list!

I think every single one of those characteristics is important for everyone to have no matter what career field you're in, but as we all know, most people don't have all of them. As far as a doctor goes, the thing I mostly care about is knowledge. I would be willing to deal with poor bedside manners from a doctor if he/she was extremely knowledgeable. The best thing to do is meet with your doctor and go with your overall gut feeling of him/her. What characteristics are you willing to sacrifice for the ones that are most important to you? I also think personality makes a huge difference and the personalities between a doctor and the patient should mesh well.

Crystal and Yolanda, I'd combine your answers. I want someone who knows that they're talking about, but also knows how to listen. I'm looking at this backwards, and thinking about the worst doctor I ever had. He wouldn't listen, and there were things he just wasn't current on about my disease. Very frustrating, but he retired about a year after I started seeing him, which was good for both of us.

I think that empathy is the utmost important quality and characteristic in a doctor is empathy. Without this trait in my doctor, I don't think that I was able to receive the quality treatment that I did. This is the most important characteristic that my doctor had that I found to be extremely beneficial to my moral.