Which Doctor is Right for You?

Here are some things to remember when choosing a physician:

The type of physician is usually not as important as the individual physician. You can get a family practitioner, a pediatrician, an internist, or a sub-specialist internist for your primary care.

If you have a defined special problem, a sub-specialist may be the best physician for you. The majority of your care can be provided by one physician and referral to other doctors can be arranged when needed.

You may want everyone in your family to go to the same physician. This avoids the challenges that can occur when having several different doctors. More importantly, a physician that sees the entire family is in a better position to fully understand individual problems.

Ask your friends'' about experiences with their doctors. If you know a doctor or a nurse personally that leaves near you, ask them for a recommendation. In most communities there are a few doctors to whom all the doctors and nurses go to. These are always good doctors, but it is sometimes difficult to find out who they are. When you need the name of a physician and cannot get reliable information anywhere, call your local county medical society. They will have a list of physicians in your area who will take on new patients. Even though this list will be useful it is important to remember that they are just giving you a list, they are not making any recommendations.

When choosing a doctor it is important to be looking at the important things and not cosmetic factors. You can speak with professional health care advocatesor follow a few criteria on your own. The address of the office, the nice carpet in the office, how pretty the receptionist is, etc... are not important. Also, don't worry about the length of the wait. The practice of good medicine means that the physician's working day will be busy, some problems will require more time than anticipated. And emergencies may come up during the course of the day. Delays occur in even the best organized practices. Take something useful to do in the waiting room; don't depend on the office magazines to fill your time. The most important question you should be asking yourself is: Is this doctor acting in the best interest of each of his or her patients? You may be sitting in the waiting room waiting but you are going to want the same special attention they are giving another patient that is causing them to run behind on their appointments.