Do You Trust Your Doctor

It is 1 am and I thought this sounded like a good thread. I hope that if I get to sleep and wake before going to work I can re-read this and still hope it sounds like a good idea. I notice comments in Posts and I have faced this myself. Do we, and if so, how much do we trust our doctors. You read the medical license that is sometimes posted on the walls in the exam rooms but it does not say, graduated 151 out of 152. At least he wasn't at the bottom right. There are places where you can check out doctors but I am not sure how reliable those sites are. We can get recommendations from other, read advertisements or like in my case, he is the only one for over 800 miles that would agree to see me. My questions are simple.   What criteria do you use to gauge how much you trust him or her? Do you simply trust him or her just because they have a degree and an office? What steps do you take to check out a doctor before going to see him. On my surgeon last year, I told him I checked him out (even though he was the only surgeon who would agree to see me). He asked me what I found out about him. I told him his wife's name, son and daughters names and what college they are attending, his political affiliation, awards received and some major medical interest causes he had been attached to as a donor. I knew when and where he went to med school and where he did his internship.  He was impressed and maybe a little worried. I am not advocating all this was necessary, but what steps do you take before trusting a doctor to help you with major life issues?

FatherJohn, This is a very good thread topic. And it is of utmost importance. I really haven't ever thought about it before. I feel bad for having said that. This is our lives we are talking about. I would think checking with the AMA to see if there are any major complaints or suits against them. There has got to be other sources for checking them out as well. I have gotten referrals from my doctors and from other people. It sure would be nice to know the correct and reliable source to go through in the future.
Anice

Very good topic indeed. Its a tough one to asnwer like you say. We can check them out to see if there are complaints filed. I have alot of friends in this town that I can make calls to and find out the dirt on alot of drs. They are still in the hub of things so its fairly easy for me to have one checked out. Also friends can help out here too.

ER as Tony says is a decent source sometimes. I have found my PCPs nurse to be a great wealth of information on good drs as well. I found my gastro who I think is worth his weight in gold thru a nurse that was our client. I have been with him almost 7 years now. If I go into an appt blind, I just check things out while there, attitude of the office staff, listened to patients in the waiting area. Once I meet the dr I go by my gut feeling and kind of take it from there. I will sit and listen and then after I am home I sort of think things thur. Do I whole heartedly trust every dr I see, absolutely not. They are human too and can make mistakes.

Susie                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Fatherjohn,
It's a great topic but once again this thread is hard to read. Drags out. I don't know why!

I don't trust a doctor until I get a good sense that he/she respects and listesn to my input and is willing to
put that into the mix without my having to beg for that "privelege".
Yes, there's the issue of if they graduated last in their class, but some doctors that struggle but
are wiiling to learn may be better than arrogant ones at the top of their class.
It also depends on what type of doctor I'm looking for.
A surgeon I want someone who as good as I can get, and I could get less about
bedside manner.
But finding a PM doc is a real challenge for me, mostly because there are so few
around who prescribe. And the one who does I DON'T trust because I've already
heard too many things. So I avoid the one source of local PM I have.

Interestingly I went to an eye doctor today. Trying to get my body checked out before I
lost my insurance. And I was having some weird things with my vision and when I called
the office (I used the doctor my cousin goes to, and who has had a good reputation even
though the older doctor has retired now and a newer guy has taken over his practice)
on Friday they told me I needed to be evaluated soon in case their was a retinal tear.
They got me in this afternoon. And it was one of those places where everyone on the
staff was just so nice, pleasant and respectful - including the doctor - and I complimented
them when I walked out and thought this is how it should be all the time!
I left feeling relaxed, relieved that there doesn't appear to be a retinal tear but the
doc wants to check once more at the end of the month to make sure I'm not developing on
and they got me in on the 23rd and the woman making the appointment said it was
because they wanted to make sure they had time before I lose my insurance in case they needed to
do a procedure. I didn't have to remember every little thing - THEY did. Anyway,
I hope I'm making sense and not making too many mistakes as my vision is still a bit
blurred from the drops!

I think anymore I end up taking the doctor who can get me in for a particular problem and
while I should do more research, unless someone's doing a big procedure I honestly don't research
too much.

Rambling again. Rambling in the dark! LOL

PaLady

Modelmaker,
I haven't yet figured this out (I'm not a computer person, that's for sure!).
What I thought was happening is that there would be a sentence or series of
character or a line or whatever that was unbroken (no spaces in it) happened to be in one post and that seemed
to change the whole thread.

BUT I don't see that in this post, so I don't know. So I just keep hitting the
return key right now.

Do you have any ideas?

Hmm...as I look back over the posts, all I can see is the line that separates
the signature material each person puts in. That seems to go on without a
break. But I don't know if people put that in, or if it's something with the
program. Maybe someone with computer knowledge has an idea?

Sometimes the easiest thing is to start a new thread!

PaLady

Can't read entire postings on this page but alot of times Dr's have had malpractice strikes against them that don't tell

the true story!  My judgements and choices of Dr.s  are based on how his/her office hums, you can usually tell by the office staff, if they

care usually the Dr does too.  If he listens, is open to hearing your questions and admitting he doesn't know something

but is willing to check into it for you and makes you feel cared for or hopeful when there isn't anything else to do,

asks how the pain level is, really

wants to hear HOW you ARE DOING, REMEBERS your last visit (even if he has to read his notes), 

Offers you new treatments if he thinks it might help and makes you

feel like you are his ONLY patient...well in my book thats the Dr. for me!! 

XXOO
Patti