AU - Airede, K TI - The ideal qualities of a good consultant: Who does the cap fit? PT - VIEW DP - 2003 Apr 1 TA - Sahel Medical Journal PG - 29-32 VI - 6 IP - 2 4099- https://www.smjonline.org/article.asp?issn=1118-8561;year=2003;volume=6;issue=2;spage=29;epage=32;aulast=Airede;type=0 4100- https://www.smjonline.org/article.asp?issn=1118-8561;year=2003;volume=6;issue=2;spage=29;epage=32;aulast=Airede AB - The ideal qualities of a good Consult ant defy definition , and a full description of one is difficult to completely proffer. Such a description , would also depend on which 'Camp' or 'School' you belong to. To a junior doctor, a good Consultant is easily accessible , approachable, friendly, with the patience of a Saint, and the sense of humour of an undergraduate . However, I consider the most important quality to be 'availability' or ' presence' - at least on the end of a phone! Tolerance , empathy and understanding are the other basic ideal qualities of a good Consultant. As regards health-care delivery , the good Consultant should have a passionate concern to maintain basic standards of Pat ient Care . H e or she should want his or her . colleagues to adopt the same standard and approach towards their Government patients, as they would to their Private patients. The good Consultant never writes "I have given the patient a supply of my formula for asthma" or denies access to simple tests like fundoscopy nor audiogram. , the Consult ant can still change his or her characteristics to fit the "Ideal" , if there are more significant negative attributes when you complete reading through this viewpoint on Ethics of Medical Practice.