9 Out of 10 Doctors Have Legible Handwriting - According to Pilot Pen Handwriting Survey

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 29 Mar 2005 - 0:00 PDT

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Doctors write legibly, they do not have a "God complex" and they are not motivated by greed. Who knew?!

In fact, 9 out of 10 medical doctors worldwide have penmanship that is quite easy to read, according to a survey released just in time for National Doctors Day, March 30th, by Pilot Pen Corporation of America.

For nearly ten years, Sheila Kurtz, Chief Graphology Officer (CGO) for Pilot Pen, has examined handwriting samples from more than 120,000 medical doctors around the world -- both for textual content and for what the handwriting itself reveals about the writer's personality.

The surprising conclusions:

* Only 10% of the surveyed doctors were found to have a truly illegible scrawl. According to Ms. Kurtz, "those doctors who scrawl do not take mental control or focus sharply enough to probe beneath the surface of a problem."

* Doctors are more subservient to authority than we ever knew. The "compliance trait" was found in almost 65% of all doctors' handwriting samples examined in the research -- and it cut across all boundaries of nationality or medical specialty. Those doctors demonstrated thought patterns indicating their willingness to yield to authority, accepting information with little or no effort to analyze or investigate it.

* Not all MDs pursue Porsches, 10am tee times and the almighty dollar. Their handwriting actually indicates that spiritual and intellectual needs outweigh the average doctor's desire for material goods. The handwriting traits for greediness ("initial hooks" at the beginning of letters) are just not there.

* Many MDs are more comfortable talking ... and not listening. Many handwriting samples demonstrate this trait -- by the open o's and a's within words, says Ms. Kurtz.

Among other findings about physicians from the Pilot Pen/Graphology Consulting Group handwriting report are the characteristics of medical specialists:

* Cardiologists -- fast thinkers, open-minded, positive high energy.

* Neurologists -- forward thinkers, quick, interested, intuitive and "elegant."

* Orthopedic surgeons -- Surprisingly, only 15% display handwriting signs that indicate manual dexterity.

* Male OB/GYNs -- the most depressed, stressed and disheartened among all specialties. When asked why, many pointed to greedy, ungrateful families and aggressive malpractice lawyers.

* Female OB/GYNs -- Optimistic, energetic.

* Anesthesiologists -- Clear thinking, objective, not impulsive -- good traits for the operating room.

"Doctors tend not to recognize their personal traits because they are too preoccupied with evaluating and fixing those belonging to other people," Ms. Kurtz says. "Handwriting analysis is a means for physicians to get to know themselves better -- and a vast majority of them in our data base were amazed to see how accurately their handwriting describes them."

About Pilot Pen

Pilot Pen, one of the largest pen companies in the U.S., offers superlative writing instruments renowned for quality, performance, cutting-edge technology and consumer satisfaction. Widely acknowledged as innovators, Pilot was first to introduce Americans to fine point writing and currently maintains the top share position in the gel pen category with its #1 selling G2 pen. Pilot's line also includes the acclaimed Dr. Grip family of products that features an ergonomic, wide comfort grip that actually reduces writing fatigue and the prestigious Namiki Collection of writing instruments for collectors and connoisseurs, as well as general consumers. Pilot Pen has operated in the U.S. since 1972; its parent company is the oldest and largest manufacturer of writing instruments in Japan.

Contact: Andy Morris and Company
Carol Klenfner, 212 561-7467
carol@amc-pr.com

SOURCE Pilot Pen
http://www.pilotpen.com