Delayed

After the examination, when I reflected what FK said, however, I was not that sure.

My concern is simple: Could patients judge which doctor is good and which not?

Don't gasp. Yes, for treatment with short term immediate effects (for example, surgery), it would be obvious to the patient whether the doctor has done a good job. However, for physicians who take care of the long term medical problems (notably prevention and risk reduction in various aspects), good and lousy ones are usually not immediately discernible. In this situation, patients generally become clients or customers and judge their doctors by their manner and attitude, as well as their capability of providing short term symptom relief.

Oh, I'm not saying these latter aspects are not important in the overall medical care. Nonetheless, over-emphasis on immediate result may compromise the long term benefit, and a nice doctor may well pave his patient's road to hell.

PS. Do you know the difference between how Alex Ferguson and José Mourinho run their football teams?