Introduction: The purpose of this research was to determine the most important factors that people in city of Yazd place on in their choice of a physician when they become sick.

Methods: A total of 493 males and females of various age and educational groups were assessed through cluster sampling from 25 zones of Yazd city. Data collection was performed using the Hill and Garner's 19-factor checklist with two statements added by the research team. This questionnaire assesses the degree of importance in patients' choice of the physician by three parts of (A) personal characteristics of the physician, (B) physician- patient communication factors, and (C) the quality of medical service, each part of which comprised of seven statements. Statistical methods used were descriptive statistics and Kruskal- Wallis and Mann- Whitney nonparametric tests.

Results: Based on the findings, the first seven factors were: knowledgeability and proficiency (personal characteristic of physicians), spending enough time for examination (communicative factor), being particularly attentive to the patient's problem (communicative factor), using competent assistants (service factor), avoiding dealing with other matters during the visit (communicative factor), easing the patient with an initial brief greeting (communicative factor), and avoiding attendance of other patients during the visit (service factor). These seven factors had mean scores of importance above the determined cut-off point (3.5), and while resending in the upper third of the distribution, were expressed as the most important factors in physician choice. All the personal characteristics of the physicians were rated as the least important factors, except knowledge and competency. Moreover, although no significant difference was found between males' and females' opinions, the differences among the age and educational groups in the two parts of communicative and service quality factors were significant (p<0.05).

Conclusion: Physicians’ knowledge is of the most important factors that patients place on in choosing doctors. Specific attention to scientific competence, communicative skills, and factors related with the quality of medical services, contribute to more successful performance of the physicians and more satisfaction of the patients.

Hakim Research Journal 2007 10(3): 22- 27.