Had an interesting discussion over lunch at a PGEA meeting the other day. We 
were talking about the idea that doctors are their own worst enemies when it 
comes to negotiating their T&Cs of service. The discussion progressed to the 
question of why this might be so and whether there might be a specific 
personality type which is attracted to medicine and GP in particular.

One of the group, who has done some landmark work on stress in GPs sauggested 
that the desire to help people might have become mixed up with the urge to be 
nice to everyone regardless of the consequences. I was reminded of the quote 
"His chief concern in life was to please everyone he met, which is an 
admirable trait in a spaniel or a whore."

In a discussion on violence and abuse, one of the group remarked that "We 
expect to be abused." which shook many of into a self examination of whether 
this is true and if so why.

Another of the group thought that low self-esteem might be implicated and 
recalled some research showing that male medics had a higher than average rate 
of an over-domineering parent - usually the mother. None of us could remember 
the source of this research.

To take a practical example; when Dorrell took over from Bottomley, anger in 
the profession over the 24hr committment was high enough to expect some 
definitive solution. Instead of keeping up the pressure, I remember the GMSC 
saying that they had to give Dorrell "time to master his brief". After the 
summmer, the issue had run out of steam and the DoH pulled off a trick which 
enabled Malone to later boast "We bought the GPs for £45m." Why did we let the 
other side re-group when they were so obviously vulnerable? If the team on one 
side of the table decide to have a re-shuffle that's their affair but they 
have no right to expect concessions from those on the other side of the 
negotiations. We were too reasonable. We behaved like soft old GPs. It surely 
is a truism that all progress comes from unreasonable men.

Where does this get us?

I now feel much clearer in my own mind about the causes of our 53% pay cut. To 
aspire to remedy that would be to try to change the collective personalities 
of the majority of the nation's 32,000 GPs. We all know the exasperating 
patient with terminaly low self-esteem who, after years of counselling and 
behavioural psychotherapy, still allows life to walk all over them. Such 
unfortunate people often get labelled as "professional victims" and we wonder 
(assume?) that they actually enjoy the abuse meted out to them. Does it really 
take two parties to establish a prolonged pattern of abuse and if so how do we 
feel about our role in the GMSC/DoH relationship?

Ever watch Dads' Army? Remember the Scot who used to proclaim in Hammer Horror 
Scottish brogue that "We're all DOOMED!"?
As Dan Quayle once said - "Its like deja-vu, all over again".

Anyone know of any research on medical personality types?

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