Complaints about doctors and our medical "system" are easy enough to find. Yet many of us have doctors who still go above and beyond to provide their best to every patient. While a pleasant bedside manner is lovely, we've all met the doctor everyone loves who scares us to death. In addition to a good personality, what are the signs that you might have a very good doctor who practices great medicine in spite of all the restrictions the system imposes on doctors and patients alike?

Signs of a Good Doctor

1. The doctor never says, "That's just a sign you're getting older," when you have a complaint of something chronic such as arthritis. Instead, the doctor tries to help you develop a plan to identify the cause, treat the symptoms that can be treated, and to cope with the things for which there is no good treatment.

2. Your doctor isn't afraid to say, "I don't really know what's going on, but here's my plan to figure this out."

3. Your primary care doctor stays on top of what any specialists are doing. When you come into the office, your doctor knows about any specialist care plans and actually examines the body parts your specialist is treating.

4. Even if they are negative you always receive the results of any tests your doctor may have ordered in a timely manner. You never have to wonder whether "no news is good news," or whether they just forgot to call you with the bad news.

5. Your doctor never pulls out the prescription pad before hearing from you and doing a physical examination. When you leave the office with a new prescription you know what the medication is for, how to take it, and which important side effects to watch for.

6. The doctor tries not to overbook the office schedule, and doesn't regularly leave you wearing a paper gown in the examination room for more than 15 minutes. On the rare occasion when things are running late, the nurse or the office manager informs you about the reason for the delay and gives you the option of staying in the waiting room with your clothes on.

7. The practice has a number you can call to reach a human being after hours. This on-call person is not simply an answering service with instructions to send all callers to the emergency room.

8. The doctor is not afraid to treat acute pain with appropriate pain medications because they "might be addictive."

9. The doctor is open to talking about feeling sad, depressed, exhausted, overstressed, or any other "negative" feelings without instantly whipping out a prescription pad.

10. The doctor tries to schedule a little extra time for your office visit if he or she will have to deliver bad news. The doctor is not afraid to look you in the eye, hold your hand, or do whatever will help support you as you absorb any bad news he has to deliver.

This is our list. If you have other signs of a great doctor to contribute please post them on the forum so we can add to it.