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​3 soft skills physician job seekers should develop

Published on: Apr 18, 2018
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Physician training focuses on developing highly technical skills, but also demands interpersonal abilities. Here are three soft skills every physician job seeker should develop:


1. Teamwork


The ability to work well as a member of a team is a highly important skill for physicians to possess. Not only do healthcare providers need to rely on one another for support while treating patients, they depend on non-medical staff to handle the administrative side of things. Whether at a private practice or larger hospital group, every member of the organization has a part to play. When doctors are able to effectively collaborate with other HCPs, administrators and patients, everyone's job becomes a little easier.

Dr. Robert Wachter, writing for KevinMD, suggests that teamwork also plays an important role in keeping patients safe. Watcher noted that training programs designed to build teamwork skills have a positive effect on patient safety. When everyone works in sync, the likelihood of mistakes begins to drop.

doctors in a boardroom shaking hands.The ability to work well as a member of a team is an important skill for physicians to possess.




2. Communication


Teamwork and communication go hand-in-hand. Doctors who are effective communicators can summarize complicated medical terminology into language that is more comprehensible to patients. Researchers from the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital who studied this subjec,t reported that physicians tend to overestimate their ability to communicate effectively with patients.

Physicians need to be able to modify their language depending on who they are speaking with. Using medical terminology with support staff may be appropriate, but the same language may be confusing to patients. Research shows that patients not only want physicians who can accurately diagnose and treat conditions, but can also communicate with them in an effective manner. Displaying this soft skill during the interview process could help new doctors stand out from other job candidates.


3. Emotional intelligence


According to Psychology Today, emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize one's own emotions and manage them in relation to others. An emotionally intelligent individual recognizes when he or she feels a strong emotion, and is able to apply those feelings to a problem in a constructive manner. Moreover, emotional intelligence aids in one's ability to manage how others are feeling.

This soft skill is incredibly important for health care professionals. Researchers at Loyola University Health System found physicians with high emotional intelligence scores also score high for impulse control, empathy and social responsibility.

Technical skills and soft skills go hand-in-hand, and physician job seekers should strive to exemplify both categories as they interview for new positions. If you're ready to take your physician job search to the next level, sign up for job alerts at myHealthTalent.com today. Physician training focuses on developing highly technical skills, but also demands interpersonal abilities.