Navigating Medicine | Pt. 4
Navigating Medicine | Pt. 4
In the first part, I shared how I chose a pediatrician for my newborn. In Part 4, I discuss some guiding principles for choosing a doctor.
In Part 1 of this series, I described the story of how we chose our newborn’s first pediatrician to illustrate some critical factors in making one of the most important decisions in your child’s life.
You can read the whole story here:
The first 5 tenets were concerned with more administrative recommendations, as it relates to the industry and insurance.
The next 5 tenets (#6-10) shifted the focus from the industry to your health.
In this part, I discuss some of the important considerations in choosing or keeping your doctor.
Tenets 11-15
For many, choosing a doctor can be challenging, especially if you are in a new environment without a robust network of friends to help you.
Even if you had a solid network, since most people are unfamiliar with the inner workings of the medical industry, their recommendations would not come without caveats.
In reality, even if you get past the initial screening process and pick a doctor - you may find that they are not what you expected. That is okay.
People jump from one hair salon to another looking for the right person to just cut their hair. You should feel no discomfort in dumping a doctor if they are not right for you.
These next 5 are some basic considerations when choosing or deciding to keep your doctor.
Doctors are not created equal.
Younger doctors are not better.
Doctors are not more rational than you.
Don’t let a doctor apply aggregate data to you.
Listen to your gut.
11. Doctors are not created equal.
I understand how obvious this statement is, but it needs to be said.
Most believe this claim applies to their ‘competence’ as physicians, whatever that means. Probably, as it relates to their performance on standardized testing or some licensing metric.
However, even as would-be doctors enter medical school, it is quite obvious how different we all are.