What do you like in a doctor.

Jim,

I really like your list - and would agree 100% w/ all you wrote.... Especially the last one... an "ideal" doctor would realize he's your consultant - and that he's working FOR you. Just as we hire a plumber, mechanic, accountant and so forth - for their area of "expertise"...

Believe it or not - my PM doc is pretty darn close to this list... but it took a LONG time to find him :)

And, yes, I love a good sense of humor in a doctor, too :)

--Tina

   This is a very good topic. I have often thought this same thing myself.

~~> What would be you ideal doctor.

 

  He would teat me like a patient, instead of a younger sister (positive and negative)

  He would be honest with me, instead of making really bad news sound like a shined up penny

  His office would be close to home, instead of 1.5 hours drive away

  He would hand pick his recpetionists, requiring compassionate service

  He would hear me the first time when I say, "I think something is wrong.".  Instead of waiting until I say, "Look at this, it is terribly wrong.".

 

     .... alright, so I really don't have much to complain about. They are all very kind and caring. When I did meet someone who I now call "Dr. Smug" I walked away as fast as I could. Of course later, he did apologize.. it just doesnt excuse the fact that he played roulette with my life. *shiver*

 

     It would be nice if doctors had "reviews" yearly. Either you meet the expectations of your patients and you can keep praticing, or you don't and you need to go back to school to re train before praticing medicine again. That simple.

 

*hugg*

  dani

 

 

 

My ideal doctor would have all those qualities everyone has mentioned, but with only one addition.

I had a resident ask me once what I thought was going on in my body, since I knew it so well. I am not sure how to explain that in expectation form, but I can tell you it made me feel for the first time that I had a say in what happens to me, and that he took my pain and condition seriously. That ER resident made me realize that a doctor is meant to work with us and for us to make our situation better, not just to give his impression and if you dont follow it, refuse to treat you. Eye opening moment to say the least.

I would post more, but I'm having a fuzzy day and have peaches to can and turn into jam.

Actually I think my Pain Doctor is as close to an Ideal Doctor that I could ever want! He listens to me, he treats me with respect, he cares, and is light hearted and can joke around, but above all, he is honest and ethical! He treats the whole person, not just the spine and pain, although that is what the clinic is, "The Spine Pain Clinic"! Heck when I was having marriage difficulities, I was able to talk with him about it and he listened and he even got me a referral to a counselor that would take medicare and triicare, ( not many of them do!) Even if I have a problem with pain in some other area, or something else going on, he checks it out and orders the appropriate test! I was complaining to him about being tired all the time, and having trouble staying awake, well he first wrote me a script for provigil, but my insurance at that time would not cover it, so then he referred me to a sleep specialist and they found out I have I have severe complex sleep apnea! While doing this he keeps my PCP in the loop. Heck after he is done with his appointment with me, he dictates his notes in front of me and then ask if he left anything out and it it was correct. Or if I wanted him to add or change anything? I have never had any other Doctor treat me that way! In other words I think a good Doctor treats his patient as a whole person, like my pain doctor says, you have to treat the whole person to be able to treat the persons pain!!!. When ever he orders test, he then goes over the results with me, we deside on a course of action! He is the first Doctor that I have ever had that I can honestly say that I have complete and total trust in!! I do wish all Doctors were like him!!!!!

White Beard

I love a doctor who actually listens to you, doesn't treat you as an imbecile, recognises the fact at this stage you probably know more about your body than they do!
I hate the patronising ones, who pat me on the head ( I'm pretty small) or ask you all the questions everyone else has already asked 100 times before and you know is on your file!!!

Sometimes you get those dreamy doctors who you think are probably out to lunch already and not actually present with you in the room.

Oh the joys...golitho

I'd like to add one more thing to ya'll's list.....

He would proactively go to bat for me when WC has a problem with any of my treatments including the SCS!!!!

This last entry is exactly what I got in my doc. WC has been a little demanding in the past year or two and my doctor has been very proactive in what he desires for me. In fact when I had my first Eval for the SCS my doctor wrote a letter to WC telling them that if they did not allow him to seek the proper treatment for me that he would drop me as a patient and they could find someone to care for me the way they wanted.

Now most patients would see this as a huge obsticle, but I've never had a doctor that went to bat for me. Most, as soon as WC told them no, they would drop the entire subject and just keep titrating me up on my meds. But my new PCP has actually helped to make WC understand why the SCS is going to be the best treatment for me and has helped with getting the proper things to happen when I thought it was going to be a lost cause once again.

To me the office could be a bit more sensitive but for the most part......I like my new doc.