sunday tribune logo
 
go button spacer This Issue spacer spacer Archive spacer

In This Issue title image
spacer
News   spacer
spacer
spacer
Sport   spacer
spacer
spacer
Business   spacer
spacer
spacer
Property   spacer
spacer
spacer
Tribune Review   spacer
spacer
spacer
Tribune Magazine   spacer
spacer

 

spacer
Tribune Archive
spacer

Handsome surgeons give docs a bitter pill to swallow
Isabel Hayes



HAVING an operation is never a good experience, but it may be easier on the eye now that a new study has shown that male surgeons are taller and better-looking than their GP counterparts.

Medical researchers from the University of Barcelona have found that the tallest and most handsome male students were most likely to become surgeons, while the shorter, uglier men tended to become physicians.

Unsurprisingly, research also showed that movie stars who play doctors tended to be the bestlooking of all.

They randomly selected 12 surgeons and 12 physicians from a Barcelona hospital, all male and in their 50s. They then gave their photos to a female committee to grade them on their good looks and height.

The conclusion reached was that surgeons were significantly taller than physicians by an average of seven inches and were considered much better-looking by the committee.

The report also selected four doctor-playing film stars . . . Harrison Ford from The Fugitive, George Clooney from ER, Patrick Dempsey from Grey's Anatomy and Hugh Laurie from House.

These were all found to be the best-looking men of all by the female committee.

The research came about after a group of doctors found during their training at the University of Barcelona that the best-looking men were most likely to be surgeons. A number of possible explanations were put forward for the difference in looks between surgeons and physicians.

"Surgeons spend a lot of time in operating rooms, which are cleaner, cooler and have a higher oxygen content than the average medical ward, " said the report.

"Furthermore, surgeons protect their faces with surgical masksf perhaps an effective anti-ageing mask."

Surgeons tended to be less bald as a result of wearing surgical caps, the report found, while they also needed to be tall to see around the operating table and often wear clog shoes, which add 2-3 cms to their height.

In contrast, physicians tend to wear heavy stethoscopes which "bows their head forward and reduces their perceived height, " said the report.

Physicians don't have it easy in general, it seems: another report found that patients have strict ideas on how their doctor should look and act, and decided they would not be impressed with a casually attired GP.

This report, by researchers from the University of Otago in New Zealand, found that a study of nearly 500 patients revealed that the best-regarded doctor was one who was semi-formally attired and smiled at them.

Although studies in the past have indicated that patients prefer their doctors to wear white coats, this has now changed, with the majority wanting their doctor in a shirt (and tie if a man) and to be wearing a name badge.

Brightly dyed hair, sandals, facial piercings and, most of all, Tshirts and runners were a big turn-off for the majority of patients.




Back To Top >>


spacer

 

         
spacer
contact icon Contact
spacer spacer
home icon Home
spacer spacer
search icon Search


advertisment




 

   
  Contact Us spacer Terms & Conditions spacer Copyright Notice spacer 2007 Archive spacer 2006 Archive