{"id":1070,"date":"2011-07-10T11:28:33","date_gmt":"2011-07-10T11:28:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/janinajacobs.com\/?p=1070"},"modified":"2011-07-10T11:28:33","modified_gmt":"2011-07-10T11:28:33","slug":"needadoctor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/janinajacobs\/food-fun-and-fitness\/1070\/needadoctor","title":{"rendered":"Need A Doctor?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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If the exam room door opens and you see this doctor, run.<\/p><\/div>\n

You might be surprised to hear that on occasion, I listen to rap music.\u00a0 As a professional musician, it\u2019s important to stay updated with all the styles of music that are out there.\u00a0 In the last few months, there\u2019s been a song stuck in my head by Eminem with Skylar Grey singing a very catchy background tag, \u201cI need a Doctor, Doctor, Doctor, to bring me back to life.\u201d\u00a0 That got me to thinking: when you need a doctor, what\u2019s the best way to choose one?<\/p>\n

If you simply go the Yellow Pages (do people still use them??) and look under Physicians, then you need to re-think your task because you shouldn\u2019t pick one randomly out of the air.\u00a0 Choosing a doctor can be one of the most important decisions in your life, next to a spouse \u2013 and you can\u2019t choose your biological kids.\u00a0 So, what do you look for? <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

First<\/strong>, check credentials to make sure your doctor is Board Certified, which means they completed an extensive training program and passed an exam specific to their field.\u00a0 Check out the Library for the American Medical Association\u2019s Directory of Physicians. <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Second<\/strong>, don\u2019t be afraid to interview a few doctors to see which one fits with your personality and specific needs.\u00a0 Come prepared with written questions regarding your health issues. NEVER be afraid to ask those questions.\u00a0 If a doctor gets annoyed or distracted and won\u2019t take a reasonable amount of time to discuss your problems, RUN, don\u2019t walk, out of there.<\/p>\n

Third<\/strong>, does the doctor\u2019s office run a professional business?\u00a0 Is the staff courteous, efficient, and respectful of your time?\u00a0 There\u2019s no need to catch up on your entire old magazine reading collection while you\u2019re waiting for an hour or more.\u00a0 I can see that happening in an emergency situation, but if it is status-quo, that doctor does not know how to manage time. Will the office follow-up with test results or to see how you are doing after a procedure?<\/p>\n

A Doctor-Patient relationship works two ways, so you have responsibilities too.\u00a0 Always tell the truth when filling out forms or answering questions.\u00a0 Some answers may be embarrassing but the doc cannot assess the situation because you are too proud or shy.\u00a0 I find it helpful to type out a list of current medications, vitamins, and minerals I am currently taking because you will ALWAYS be asked.\u00a0 If you have a chronic condition, I also find it helpful to write what I call a \u2018Once Upon a Time\u2019 story detailing when it started and everything you can remember from symptoms to other doctors\u2019 diagnostic info.\u00a0 This is more accurate and also saves time.<\/p>\n

A word about Referrals<\/strong>:\u00a0 You may already have a family physician, but when you need a specialist do you simply ask him or her for a referral?\u00a0 If so, you may not be getting the best care possible.\u00a0 \u00a0Here\u2019s how referrals work<\/strong>:\u00a0\u00a0 some doctors refer other doctors because they play golf together (really?), share a condo, travel together, or because the other doc is a researcher needing patients.\u00a0 Also, most referrals are within a hospital system, or some other affiliated group.\u00a0 Think of it as a convenient marketing or advertising ploy masked as a public service.\u00a0\u00a0 The best thing to do is ask your friends and family about their doctors and if they\u2019re happy with the quality of care and service.\u00a0\u00a0 Ask the doctor to whom they<\/em> would send their spouse.<\/p>\n

Remember that doctors don\u2019t know everything and may not be up to date on current research, studies, or medications.\u00a0\u00a0 They simply don\u2019t have time to see patients, update records, and study medical breakthroughs.\u00a0 It is also quite possible that the only teaching or instruction your doctor gets about new medications is at the hands of pharmaceutical reps.\u00a0 If your doctor is freewheeling with samples, it\u2019s a good indication they\u2019re coming from pharmaceutical companies and thus, are likely to be prescribed.\u00a0 It is your responsibility to educate yourself to ask the correct questions.\u00a0\u00a0 These days, patients want quick answers and solutions, (just like golf\u2026.) which sometimes aren\u2019t feasible.\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s why doctors feel compelled to write so many prescriptions so patients can walk out of the office thinking they have a solution. \u00a0Don\u2019t fall into that quagmire\u2026..and that goes double for depression medications.\u00a0 Often, when doctors don\u2019t have an answer or when patients don\u2019t seem to get better, they sometimes decide the ailment is \u2018in your head\u2019 and will prescribe anti-depressants.\u00a0\u00a0 While many people insist they work, I can\u2019t recall anyone I know ever getting off of depression meds.\u00a0\u00a0 For people who truly have bi-polar or manic depressive issues, the meds are important to them \u2013 but that doesn\u2019t mean they should be prescribed haphazardly because \u2018nothing else\u2019 is effective.\u00a0 Sometimes detective work is needed and that is neither quick nor easy.\u00a0\u00a0 But what in life that\u2019s worth having\u2026..ever is?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You might be surprised to hear that on occasion, I listen to rap music.\u00a0 As a professional musician, it\u2019s important… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":1074,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1496,19164],"tags":[70665],"class_list":["post-1070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food-fun-and-fitness","category-offcourse","tag-choosingadoctor"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/janinajacobs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2011\/07\/Doctor.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/janinajacobs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/janinajacobs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/janinajacobs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/janinajacobs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/janinajacobs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1070"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/janinajacobs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1070\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1078,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/janinajacobs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1070\/revisions\/1078"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/janinajacobs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/janinajacobs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/janinajacobs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/janinajacobs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}