Ideas of what constitutes a good doctor underlie decisions about medical student selection, curriculum design and the structure of medical education at all levels of training. As with any social phenomenon, constructs of the good doctor are historically derived and socially negotiated. Factors at play include knowledge (what does a good doctor need to know), identity (who can become a good doctor) and notions about the relationship of doctors to society (the social responsibility or social accountability of the good doctor). Ideas about the good doctor tend to be considered as 'truths' in any...