# How does one go about finding a doctor? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 3, 2005, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-go-about-finding-a-doctor/306761 "2005-06-03T18:49:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-go-about-finding-a-doctor/306761/1 "2005-06-03T18:49:08Z")
I finally have insurance and so would like to establish a relationship with a GP. I’ve actually never really had to do this. Is there a good resource on the web? Does one just pick up a phone book and trial and error it? Any advice? Incidentally I just moved to Red Hook, Brooklyn so if anyone has personal experience with someone they’d care to recommend please email me. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-go-about-finding-a-doctor/306761/2 "2005-06-03T18:54:29Z")
Do you know any doctors? The medical community can be fairly tightly knit, or at least up on the gossip. When we were looking for a GP and a pediatrician, we asked a friend who was a surgeon. We did the same thing when I was looking for an OB/GYN. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-go-about-finding-a-doctor/306761/3 "2005-06-03T19:02:27Z")
> [@Moe](#): > > I finally have insurance and so would like to establish a relationship with a GP. I’ve actually never really had to do this. Is there a good resource on the web? Does one just pick up a phone book and trial and error it? > > Any advice? > > Incidentally I just moved to Red Hook, Brooklyn so if anyone has personal experience with someone they’d care to recommend please email me. contact your insurance company for a list of approved Doctors. Don’t most insurances have this? Mine does. I get about a fifty page magazine type publication that lists all the doctors under their program. They’ll usually cover doctors outside the group if they are referred from a doc. within the group. And then you have the usual exceptions. Start their, so you don’t end up going to one they don’t recognise. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-go-about-finding-a-doctor/306761/4 "2005-06-03T19:03:34Z")
Or, start **there** , whichever. ---
**Author:** ![Snowcarpet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowcarpet/32/257_2.png) [@Snowcarpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowcarpet)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-go-about-finding-a-doctor/306761/5 "2005-06-03T19:04:58Z")
If you just want an Internet list of docs in your area, go here : [http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/directories.html](http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/directories.html) ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-go-about-finding-a-doctor/306761/6 "2005-06-03T19:06:14Z")
And here’s an IMHO thread from a couple weeks back with the same question and some more advice: > **[How do I find a good doctor?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=318732)** > > So, the other day I had my kitties at the vet for their yearly check up, and I got to thinking how much I like my vet. He takes time to actually talk to me, answer all my questions (no matter how dumb, even if I’m asking about animals not currently... ---
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-go-about-finding-a-doctor/306761/7 "2005-06-06T16:13:27Z")
Thanks everyone, and sorry for the delayed response time. Been a busy weekend. re:list from the insurance company - yeah, that’s probably what I’ll do. I was just wondering if there was some other type of resource which could give me some info on patients’ experiences with docs, or perhaps a resource where docs are categorized by experience and/or credentials or… something. My question is really the same one posed in the other thread and I guess it’s answered there as well as it could be. Verdict: ask around. I just don’t have many I can ask since I just moved.