I’m not sick (as far as I know) and don’t have any worrisome symotoms, in which case I might just head to the nearest emergency room. It’s just that as I enter my early thirties, I’m beginning to take my health a little more seriously and think I should have a general practice physician to go to, in case I DO get sick.
It’s just that I have no idea how to “shop around” for a regular doctor. I wouldn’t know where to start. What should I look for in a doctor? How do I tell if she/he is any good? Should I go to a clinic, an HMO, a private practice? I’ve looked in the Yellow Pages and on search sights and the like, but they all simply list the names, and office addresses of doctors, period.
This is serious. I am looking for any advice or helpful hints on how to determine if the doctor I’m going to isn’t some quack who’s going to rake in tons of health insurance money at the expense of my health!
I’m with an HMO, and love it. I just take whoever is next in line and don’t worry about it.
Even in pregnancy, when they insisted I pick one, I would do that but still see whoever was available.
If you are in your early thirties and healthy, I think you’d be better off enjoying your youth and health and not spending time with doctors. Unless you have bad habits or a family history of heritable diseases, you probably don’t need much health care except for a blood pressure check once in a while. (I’m assuming you are male.)
As for choosing a doctor, I just called a clinic that has an agreement with my employer and took the first doc with an opening for a new patient. (I called in August and got an appointment for December.) However, since you are willing to put in more effort, I suggest you ask friends or coworkers for recommendations. (This is not foolproof since quacks are often very popular with their patients.) You might then ask the candidates if they are board certified. If they are board certified, they know their stuff (or at least did know their stuff when they were certified).
You should probably get an internist (certified by the ABIM) if you are single. If you have a family you might want to find a family physician (certified by the ABFP) who can take care of everybody. I would probably regard as a plus an affiliation with a medical school (although I realized that there are a lot of up-to-date docs who do not teach and plenty of docs who do teach who aren’t all that good).
Probably the most important thing is to find a doc who meets your particular needs. I have noticed that patients come in two basic varieties. Some want to get a treatment (pill, physical therapy, or whatever) and if the doc tells them that they don’t need treatment, they will look for another doc. Others just want reassurance; they won’t take any medicine even if it is prescribed. A good doctor finds out from the patient what they want during the course of taking the patients “history” by asking a question like “What brings you in today?” “Is there anything else I can do for you?” A poor doctor just asks questions like “How long has your knee been bothering you?” and “Does you knee hurt more when you squat?”