Introduction

A good Physician- patient relationship is the core of a successful primary health care. It is characterized by a two way interactions between the physician and the patient, where the patient is involved in the decision making⁽¹⁾. The relationship between the physician and the patient can interfere significantly with the treatment adherence⁽²⁾. So it is necessary for the physician to work on building and preserving a good relationship from the first moment. The first impression is important to optimize healthcare outcomes⁽³⁾. Physician appearances, gender, nationality, age, speech and posture were found to affect patient’s first impression⁽³⁾. Also, it is found that once the first impression been developed, it will remain unchanged – most of the times-⁽³⁾. Gender preferences found to increase patient satisfaction in some settings⁽⁴⁾. For the intimate, and psychosocial issues, it is found to be preferred to have a physician of the same gender as a patient ⁽⁴⁾. For the age preference, some studies found that patients preferred the physician to be between 30-50 years⁽⁵⁾. Physician appearances is also an important factor affecting patient perception of the care provided ⁽¹⁾.

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Hadeel Mansour Almutairi

King Abdulaziz Medical City