5 STAR DOCTOR

Profile of a “five-star Doctor”(Adopted from Charles Boelen, WHO 1994):

• Care provider
  Who considers the patient holistically as an individual and as an integral part of family and the community, and provides high quality, comprehensive, continuous and personalised care within a long term relationship based on trust.
• Decision maker
  Who chooses which technologies to apply ethically and cost- effectively while enhancing the care he or she provides.
• Communicator
  Who is able to promote healthy lifestyle by effective explanation and advocacy, thereby empowering individuals and groups to enhance and protect their health.
•  Community leader
  Who having won the trust of the people among whom he or she  works, can recouncil individual and community health requirements and initiate action on behalf of the community.
•  Manager
  Who can work harmoniously with individuals and organisations inside outside the health system to meet the needs of patients and communities, making appropriate use of available health data.

This “Five-star Doctor” is ideally suited to the back-bone of health care delivery system of India and hence family physician must be strengthened adequately to offer effective and efficient health care to the community