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More importantly - do you want to be a doctor? If you have the desire to achieve, then you can build up the skills
required to gain a place at medical school and become a good doctor.
If you have thought carefully about what the training and career entails and you think this is the career for you,
then go for it. You do, however, need to address the following key skills and check whether you can demonstrate these
in your activities or whether you need to work on developing them.
Key Skills
The key skills involved in a successful doctor-patient relationship are illustrated below.
Key Skills in the Doctor-Patient Relationship
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Your academic skills will be tested by the A-Level grades you achieve. Some of your numerical and reasoning skills
will be tested by the BMAT/UKCAT.
There are a lot of "soft" skills that are required which will be tested through your UCAS form and interview:-
- Integrity - veracity and honesty - you will be responsible for personal and sensitive information. You must adhere carefully to codes of conduct and base your actions on a strict set of values. You must also be loyal to your patients and colleagues;
- Communication - both with patients and other doctors, written and oral. Listening is often as important as talking;
- Interactive - you will need to be able to work effectively in a team, get along with people, and liaise with individuals and groups;
- Flexible/proactive - you will often be in a highly pressurised environment, so you need to have the initiative to think on your feet and come up with swift solutions to new problems;
- Tenacity/determination - the career path for a doctor is long and scattered with obstacles. There are exams, tests and interviews all the way through and competition is fierce. You need to be undeterred by these challenges and continue to work hard to achieve the final goal;
- Commitment - not only is the course itself long, but at times you will work long hours for little return and the job will be emotionally and physically exhausting. You need to be self-motivated and enthusiastic enough to make it though the hardest times. Resilience is a key attribute;
- Enquiring mind - medicine is a fast-moving field and you will need to keep on top of new discoveries and developments. Sometimes there is no correct answer to problems and you may need to challenge some of the evidence put before you;
- Compassion - at the end of the day, medicine is about caring for the welfare of others. Often it is advice and reassurance that are required rather than a specific drug or treatment. You often need to be sympathetic and sensitive to both patients and relatives as you may be a key source of support at a very emotional time. Empathy is important, as is a non-judgmental attitude;
- Scientific approach - you need to be methodical in your assessment of problems. Medicine is all about assessing symptoms, diagnosing illness, testing your prediction, devising a treatment and then monitoring its progress;
- Leadership skills - a senior doctor may run a department that will involve managing other doctors/support staff as well as time and financial management. You will need to be self-motivated and confident. Even if a candidate doesn't exhibit leadership skills now, they must have the potential to be successful in a leadership role;
- Position of responsibility - you will need to make important decisions that will impact the lives of others. You will need to remain calm and focused through stressful and pressurised scenarios;
- Breadth of interests - you should have a range of hobbies and demonstrate that you are an interesting person who has other interests besides medicine. It is important that you know how to escape from work and relax in your spare time; otherwise, you may not last long in the profession;
- Stamina - you must be able to deal effectively with stress and not let pressurised situations affect your judgement or ability to carry out your duties;
- Limitations - no one is perfect and it is important that you can reflect on your strengths and weaknesses in order to develop yourself and work to your greatest skills;
- A sense of humour - may also be key - especially as a junior doctor!
Being a Doctor
Like all careers, there are positive and negative aspects to being a doctor.
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