Our family doesn’t seem to have much success with doctors. With one exception (we took our 2yo to the ER to have a head injury checked out – she was okay, which we knew but wanted to confirm – and the doctor diagnosed her with a UTI we hadn’t recognized – apparently babies don’t always indicated discomfort with a UTI), I cannot remember the last time anyone in our family has been to the doctor and a) been actually diagnosed or b) been told something we didn’t already know about what’s wrong with us. Doctors’ visits are pretty expensive to not learn anything from them! To top it off, we often get downright stupidity, like the doctor who told me that my 7-year-old’s temperature of 100.4 was a “really high temperature,” and told me I should medicate her because I “wouldn’t want her to have a seizure.” (No, I wouldn’t want her to have a seizure, but it’s pretty well accepted in the medical community that a temperature of 100.4 is not likely to cause a febrile seizure in a 7-year-old with no history of those.) Consequently, I really hate trying to find a doctor.
Now, some of you may have happened to have it easy. Maybe you’re in Austin, Texas, having hormonal issues, and the best bioidentical hormone replacement Austin has to offer also happens to be the best hormone replacement therapy the country has to offer. Or maybe you have food allergies and the best food allergy doc in the nation is in your town. Or maybe you just happened to stumble across a great doctor on your first try. But if not, how do you go about finding a good doctor? What questions do you ask? How do you know, when you first visit a doctor, if he’s any good? We always ask things ahead of time like what their perspective is on vaccines, because we don’t want a pediatrician who believes that choosing not to vaccinate is child neglect and will turn us in to the state. But agreeing with – or at least tolerating – our philosophies doesn’t necessarily make him a skilled doctor. And skill is what we seem to have difficulty coming across. So how do you find that?
Well, I haven’t been to a doctor in years but am pregnant and am lucky to have an excellent midwife. I really didn’t have much of a choice to choose her because she lives two hours away and is the closest I’ve found. Fortunately, she is knowledgeable, seeks my input and gives good information while being friendly, but not overly.
I, do however, work at a mental health agency with many doctors and there is one in particular that I highly respect. She is the most thorough doctor I’ve met; she takes a long time to make a diagnosis and gathers information from various sources before doing so. She usually gives people at least two options on how to treat the problem, one of them usually being through meds and the other option depends on the diagnosis. She is patient but blunt and many people don’t like her who just want medications and don’t want to be told the truth. She respects others input but is thorough enough to draw her own conclusions.
I am worried about finding a good doctor for my baby once he’s born…
That does sound like a good doctor!
Visit with people you associate with, friends at church, home school group, people you or your husband work with. Do you know a nurse? They usually have a good feel for the personality and skill if the Dr’s. You will soon realize you are hearing a few names over and over. Now the problem is most likely the Dr of your choice is not accepting new patients. I have no magic answer for that, sorry
Janet, I am cracking up at the comment about the doctor not accepting new patients – that is sooo true! Great insight, though, about asking a nurse!