Choosing the right doctor

Choosing the right doctor is one of the most important health decisions you’ll make before undergoing any procedure or treatment abroad. Here are brief guidelines and some resources that should help you to check out or to investigate your potential physician overseas.

Word of Mouth

Nothing compares to the real-life insight of people you trust, so start by seeking doctor recommendations from your family, friends or someone else you know who had the same procedure or has undergone any treatment from the same doctor.

Internet & Social Media

Another source of first-hand information is the Internet. With the rise in the numbers of doctors who use social media like Facebook, Twitter or other social networking sites, it is easier than ever to determine the personality of a doctor or to obtain feedback from previous patients.

The Doctor’s Credentials

A background check into your doctor’s credentials is imperative to be sure they are appropriate and current. Once you have the doctor’s name and location the following questions may be helpful:

  • Medical education: where did the doctor study and when?
  • Training: where and when did the doctor undertake an internship?
  • Licensure: is the doctor licensed?
  • Experience: how long has the doctor been in practice?
  • Certification: is the doctor board-certified by any local or international authorities and when?
  • What medical center(s) is the doctor affiliated with?
  • Memberships: is the doctor a member of any medical societies?
  • Researches: has the doctor published any articles on your diagnosis or health problem?
  • Track record: does the doctor have any stains like malpractice claims, sanctions and board actions?

Education & Licensure

What medical school did the doctor study? When did the doctor obtain his / her medical degree? This information may be more important for younger doctors who have just started their practices so as to give you some insight into the doctor’s background or educational credentials. In some states this information can be listed along with licensing. Without license the doctor is not allowed to practice medicine. In this regard it should be noticed that medical licensure is only permitted for degrees obtained from the medical schools listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools (WHO). So check whether your doctor obtained medical degree from the medical schools listed in this directory or not.

Training & Experience

Medical students who obtained their degree should complete three to seven years of accredited residency program. Foreigners trained in the USA have to complete a program established by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG).

Another key point is how long the doctor has been in practice. This information that may be accessed at your states’ medical licensing board site will give you an idea of the doctor’s experience. It may also show his/her longevity in one place. For example, if a doctor is over 50 years old but seems to have been practicing for fewer than 10 years that indicates an interruption in his/her practice. So, such information may also give you a clue as to turn up the doctor’s former practice.

Certification

Every doctor may have a medical license without being board-certified in his/her specialty but each board-certified one is licensed. This is the difference between board-certified and licensed.

So, board certification is the way the average consumer can be certain of a physician’s training. With no guarantee of excellence, it provides a sense of quality assurance and means that a doctor has obtained a medical degree from a qualified medical school, completed residency training, passed national exams, is licensed and is considered an expert in his/her area. A set of minimum competencies called ’gold standard’’ was created by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), which is a member organization of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), the main body accrediting postgraduate training programs for medical doctors in the USA. The equal authority in the United Kingdom is General Medical Council, in the European Community is the European Union of Medical Specialties. To confirm whether your doctor is board-certified or still current visit any of these directories.

It is also worth mentioning that to maintain the certification, a doctor is expected to keep continuing professional education. Approximately 90% of all practicing doctors in the U.S. are board-certified.

Affiliation

Hospital affiliation may also be a consideration since you may:

  • need to be hospitalized at some point
  • have a strong preference for certain hospital
  • wish to choose your hospital first and then the doctor
  • or try to take some control over hospitals that can keep you safest.

So, your choice of doctor can determine the medical center you go to. It is important to note that affiliation with JCI accredited or ISO certified medical center would be a strong argument since such qualified medical organizations have a similarly high-skilled and professional staff.

Membership

In a constantly developing medical world professional medical experience is a permanent and long-term process that cannot be limited just to good diploma, training in a ranked medical institution or working in a certified medical center. As mentioned above, it requires continuing professional education and participating in development programs. So, surgeons are expected to have memberships in international societies like the International Society of Surgeons (ISS/SIC) or the American College of Surgeons (ACS) for the U.S. trained. Memberships may be specific to their field of specialization or location. For example, aesthetic and plastic surgeons can be the members of the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS), the European Association of Plastic Surgeons (EURAPS) in Europe, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) in the USA, the British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (BAPRAS) in the U.K., the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) in Australia or any local medical association specific to the destination country.

Memberships in medical societies allow doctors to keep up-to-date with the latest medical achievements, modern technologies, to broaden their professional vision and knowledge.

Researches

Has the doctor published any articles on your diagnosis, procedure or treatment type? Is the doctor involved in medical research upon your health problem? Answers to these or similar questions may be important to you as such involvement of the doctors (especially affiliated with academic or university medical centers) in medical researches means they are learning more about your health problem, modern methods of diagnosing or treatment. They are considered as experts in their respective fields. To learn about possible doctor’s involvement in medical research, just do a general web search with the doctor’s name and related word like ‘’publication’’ or ‘’research’’. Checking out a doctor’s background is a proper way to gain confidence in your choice before you ever see that doctor. When coupled with other general recommendations in this article, you have a far better chance to be satisfied with the relationship.

Track Records

Another important aspects are whether the doctor has any stains in his/her records like malpractice claims, sanctions and board actions. The board has the authority to revoke, suspend or limit a doctor’s license. It can issue a censure or reprimand, order education or retraining, levy a fine or penalty as well. So, you can also ask if the doctor has any history of malpractice claims, ask for validity of doctor’s certification or accreditation, liability and other issues that may be related to risks and safety.

Other Considerations

Here are some additional considerations that may also be important for you while choosing a doctor:

  • Personality and attitude – according to the latest surveys, more than half of Americans focus on personality and relationship when choosing a doctor. Does the doctor listen to you or interrupt you? Does the doctor give full answer to your questions? Does the doctor explain your health problem clearly enough? The responses help you to test the compatibility.
  • Location – especially when transportation is an issue.
  • Gender – it may be comfortable for you to choose a doctor of one gender or the other for the only reason to feel more comfortable. But keep in mind – excellence in healthcare has no gender.
  • Age – some doctor relationships may last for the rest of life as in case with chronic diseases. So choosing a doctor younger than you or at least closer to your age may be the right option.
  • Communication skills – a respectful communicator will help you more than a doctor with an arrogant or otherwise unpleasant personality.
  • Language and culture – when it comes to something as personal as medical care you may consider a doctor’s culture and native language in your choice. Culture, which sometimes is not translated as it is intended, can also affect bedside manner. Ideally, your doctor should be able to speak the same language you do. If you cannot directly communicate with your specialist, it is highly recommended to find a practice and hospital that have high-quality translation services. However, it should be remembered that neither language nor culture would be likely to affect the doctors’ competences to take care of you since excellent doctors speak any language and come from all cultures.
  • Insurance – the nature of health insurance implies relationship between insurers and physicians changing over time. Doctors often add or drop plans, so verify whether the doctor still accepts your insurance.
  • Ratings or rankings – a lot of useful information (as well as misinformation) about medical doctors is available on the web. During your search you may come across doctors’ ratings or rankings websites. You may find there some useful data you need but not all such resources provide correct information. So, pay close attention to the cautions concerning ratings or rankings websites.

Finally, it may be stated that medical practices are not comprised of doctors alone. They are surrounded by others, from nurses to physician assistants who help them deliver the care you need. So you have to account for the entire team when it comes to choose the right doctor. But the doctor always leads the team that is why your accurate assessment of him or her is of most importance to make the right choice.


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