Characteristics of an Ideal Physician from the Perspective of Iranian Muslim Doctors

One of the first sciences that attracted and expanded the attention of Muslims was medicine, since medical science deals with the lives and souls of human beings and in most human civilizations, was of dignity and importance. It was considered a sacred profession; it was expected that physicians would combine moral fitness with professional ability. The history of medicine in Iran and Islam testifies that medical ethics has always been the focus of successful, popular and renowned physicians. The purpose of this study is to introduce the true indicators of an idealized physician and sample from the perspective of a number of prominent and respected Islamic Iran monks in the early Islamic centuries.

This article is a descriptive-analytical one and with the help of library resources, a case study of medical books of five Iranian companions of the third to fifth centuries AH, namely: Ibn Raben Tabari, Zakaria Razi, Magusi Ahvazi, Bu Ali Sina and Hakim Jorjani examines the criteria of the sample physician. Ethical Considerations: When referring to the texts, honesty and trustworthiness, reference to the texts used avoidance of bias in deducing the texts or analysis is observed.

The results of this study show that the practice of ethical and professional principles of medicine among Iranian Muslim physicians is considered as the most important attribute and condition for medical practitioners. God, trust, tolerance, preservation of medical secrets, goodwill, hope, patient communication and good behavior, religious conviction and so on have been emphasized and recommended.

Doctors, also known as sages, historically emphasize the following principles: Good physician attitudes and their impact on patient care, presence on the sick bed and respect for him, observance of piety and religiosity, avoidance of corruption, etc. As a condition of ethical culture they have insisted on medical science. The results show that the two principles of ethics and conscience, as well as medical specialty, have been a common theme of most Iranian and Muslim monks in the middle ages of Islamic Iran