Posted by Gracie2 on October 18, 2001, at 0:33:05
In reply to Re: Flakey patient image? How to overcome this? » Hattree, posted by AnneL on October 17, 2001, at 22:17:54
I think it was Churchill who said Never give up, never never never.
I'm a "doctor shopper" for both GPs and Pdocs. It was particularly important for me to find a decent GP since, under HMO guidelines, he was my primary physician and I could not be referred to a specialist without his say-so. One of the few sensible allowances under an HMO is that you can change your primary physician as many times as you like without penalty.
It is essential to have a doctor that you trust
and who you feel provides you with good medical care. Sometimes it helps to get a reference from a friend but not always. Ten years ago, a friend of mine recommended an OB/GYN who I will always be completely devoted to. Although I am as horrified by pap smears as anyone else, he always makes it as easy and comfortable as possible. He even has those awful metal stirrups on the exam table covered with little flowered padded pillows for your feet. He's a great guy.On the other hand, in an orthopedic office where I worked, the oldest physican was uninterested in any new medical developments. Some of his patients had been with him for 20 years and just loved him. However, it pained me to see him put a cast on a child, because plaster had always worked for him and he saw no need to change that.
Two children with the same type of fracture would come into the office; one child saw the old doctor and the other child saw a younger doctor. The younger doctor would cast with fiberglass, a lightweight material that now comes in all colors and patterns, and can be dried with a hairdryer should it get wet. The child who saw the old doctor would emerge with a heavy, cumbersome, ugly white plaster cast that could cause skin damage should the plaster get wet and often caused intense itching underneath the plaster.So there are good reasons for "doctor shopping".
I believe it has a bad name only because of the patients who see multiple doctors to attain more drugs. This rarely works anymore as pharmaceutical
computers appear to be hooked up so that information on a patient is available from all other pharmacies, inside or outside a particular pharmaceutical chain. In other words, they have our number.I changed primary physicians three times in a year before I found a doctor I liked. I also changed psychiatrists because my first one would take extended trips to Pakistan without informing the patient or providing coverage in her absence.
I found this to be totally irresponsible.So you just keep looking. Sooner or later you will find a doctor that "clicks" with your particular personality, and you'll be glad that you went to the trouble.
-Gracie
poster:Gracie2
thread:81473
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011015/msgs/81558.html