The former head of the Food Safety Authority, Dr Patrick Wall, was one of a number of doctors and nurses who gave evidence at Dundalk Circuit Criminal Court.
They were testifying on behalf of Dr Michael Shine (72), who is on trial for allegedly indecently assaulting six teenage boys between 1974 and 1982.
Dr Shine of Wellington Road, Dublin, has denied the assaults, which are alleged to have taken place in either Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, Co Louth, or at his consulting rooms on Fair Street, Drogheda.
The defence continued its evidence yesterday with a succession of people who worked with the former hospital consultant.
Dr Wall said he qualified as a doctor in 1986 and his first job was in the Lourdes Hospital where he worked for almost 18 months.
He told Mr Felix McEnroy, defending, that a doctor's job was like a detective and you looked for clues as to what was wrong with a patient.
He said it was important that the first time a patient came that they were examined fully and that this was documented so that nothing was missed.
He said Dr Shine was very thorough, dedicated and focused and had a knack of putting patients at their ease.
Cross-examined by Mr John O'Kelly, prosecuting, Dr Wall said that generally it was junior doctors who met a patient first and they would carry out the full examinations.
Dr Ann Murphy, a retired consultant paediatrician who worked in the Lourdes Hospital, said she would also carry out full examinations including examining the genital area as she was taught to examine somebody from head to toe in case something was missed.
Ms Nancy Allen, a nurse at the Lourdes Hospital and member of the North Eastern Health Board, said she found Dr Shine to be "absolutely magnificent, a magnificent diagnostician and the best surgeon I ever worked with".
Dr Colman Muldoon, a consultant physician who worked in the Lourdes Hospital but is now in private practice, agreed that doctors should not just examine the body system relating to the symptom.
Asked by Mr O'Kelly if once someone was examined and admitted to hospital would he do another full examination of them, including the genital area, Dr Muldoon said that would depend on what was wrong.
Asked if a patient had recovered and was then seen in out-patients, would he then do a full examination, Dr Muldoon said this would vary and in his opinion medicine is "hands on" and one might want to reassure oneself the patient was well before they go.
A number of nursing staff including a former ward sister gave evidence of working with Dr Shine. None had ever received a complaint about him from a patient.
The defence is expected to conclude its evidence today.