They have all been humourous, self-mocking, and genuinely open to patient suggestions.

They have also been remarkably bright.

I have been really impressed by them.

It was a major contrast to the attitude of my GP who took a much grander stance and was consistently wrong.

In the end we had a stand up row but at least the GP was fair enough to ring up later and apologise.

I agree that GPs have to have a wide knowledge, if not a deep one but in my experience they often have a humility problem.

I have learnt to equate it with their ignorance.

I wonder if it’s not so much that consultants are less arrogant, just that they really know what they are doing. You generally have to contend with a certain amount of condescending superiority from doctors of all kinds, even among university students they are mostly set apart in their special doctor world.

I sympathise with GPs. The sheer range of stuff that can go wrong with the human body is mind boggling, far too much to fit into any one generalist’s brain. But they do need to be humble enough to listen, and to refer to more knowledgable authorities when need be, don’t they.