Finding the right doctor, and the best one, will prove to be one of the most important decisions one can make.
There may be great help all around you, but it is important to find a good match for you and your needs.
One way you can go about deciding the best for you is to rate doctors, which will give you solid evidence that you can use to pick the best for yourself, as well as helping others with your ratings.
Here are some questions to ask and things to look for while rating others.
The first thing you need to find out is if the person can handle and take care of all of your needs.
So before meeting with the doctor, have a list of all of the needs you have to have taken care of.
Be as specific as you can, and you will be able to ask specific questions and get a good feel as to whether this physician can help you or not.
Also, if making a public review, someone may find their needs similar to yours, and this will help them as well.
For instance, if you are a professional singer, you may not rate a family clinician very high for meeting your demands for vocal healthcare.
Instead, you will need to find a specialist and see how they can better help you.
Next, ask those around you for advice and comments on their doctors.
Friends, family, and co-workers will prove to be a valuable source of information to find good doctors, as well as finding honest opinions of their flaws.
Ask questions that deal with more than just the outcome of the service.
Try and find out about every aspect of the doctor's office.
Questions that may help are: "Is the staff friendly?" "Is the facility clean, organized, and does it use old or newer technology?" "Is it easy to make an appointment in an emergency?" "Does the doctor seem to care and give his best attention to all of his patients?" These will provide a good base of overall care you would receive in your experience going to an appointment.
You can take your rating to another level before meeting the doctor by checking their credentials.
Contact the American Medical Association, or a local medical association and ask if this physician is on their list.
They may be able to provide credentials such as educational background, what associations he is a part of, license information, and perhaps any disciplinary actions taken against them in violation of any rules.
Also, being apart of a national association may show that they are accredited and follow a strict set of guidelines to even be a member.
This type of information will definitely be useful in your rating.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, you should meet with the doctor personally.
One of the best things you can find out during a meeting is your gut feeling on the person in question.
You may know right away whether he or she is mean, personable, caring, competent, and good to work with just by your feelings from meeting him.
After that, rate doctors you have researched using this information, and you will have a solid, confident, and informed decision on what will be the best doctor for you.