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Table 4 Criteria for Choosing a Family Physician

From: Which family physician should I choose? The analytic hierarchy process approach for ranking of criteria in the selection of a family physician

Individual Characteristics

Patient-Doctor relationship

Professional Characteristics

The Setting

Ethical Characteristics

Smiling, Gentle, Polite, Respectful, Understanding, Non-frightening, Calm and not nervous, Friendly

Closeness, Makes a patient feel valued, Recognises a patient, Provides medicine without charge, Listens and hears, Solves payment problems in some manner, Wants to see you again, Informative, Knows your district, Explains in laymen’s’ terms, Sincere, Listens in depth, One of the family, Knows our family and children, We can talk to him, We can laugh with him, The doctor should know me, I should know the doctor

Gets a medical history, Knowledgably, Experienced, Ability to diagnose and treat without referrals elsewhere, Authority to write all prescriptions, Ability to write medical reports to enable the patient to get medication, Trustworthy [someone who won’t misdiagnose], Ability to rewrite the same medications, Doesn’t rush but pays attention [does not worry about malpractice], Asks questions [about the issue], Examines, Understands us, Can consult other doctors, Can cooperate with other doctors, Can understand our ailments

Not crowded, Don’t have to wait, Good organisation [queuing, numbering, door signs etc.], Should have only one doctor, If s/he changes, then everything starts all over again, Should honour the queue

In emergency situations, shouldn’t consider who is responsible for the patient, Should have ethical values [the service he provides shouldn’t be commensurate with the salary he receives], Should write a medical report when needed, Should not distinguish between the health clinic and private practice, Should focus on his job and shouldn’t be distracted by other things [such as chatting with medical firm representatives], Should not discriminate according to ethnic origin, Should not discriminate according to social security availability, Should be trustworthy [in terms of his relationship with medical firms],