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The ideal doctor
would be one who is:
Competent; compassionate with a caring attitude ; experienced;
with a well-organized practice - and has all the time in the
world for you! While you may never find someone who meets
all these criteria, how can you find a good doctor to take
care of you?
You feel fine:
no aches or pains, no shortness of breath, nothing out of
the ordinary. So why should you see your doctor? Well, there
are several reasons. A regular checkup, now being referred
to as a periodic health examination (PHE), can help prevent
diseases before they ever take hold or catch health problems
at early stages when they're easier to control or cure. Another
great benefit of such visits is that over time you and your
doctor develop a rapport and mutual trust.
The type of doctor you should go to for a PHE is a primary
care physician. These experts not only keep close tabs on
their patients' health but on their use of specialty care
as well. Another important part of their job is to educate
you about measures that will keep serious medical problems
from occurring in the first place.
The following doctors qualify as primary care: family practitioners
(general practitioners) can treat everyone in your family
because they're trained in several basic medical disciplines,
including internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics, gynecology,
general surgery and psychiatry. Internists diagnose and "medically"
(without surgery) treat disease in adults. And pediatricians
care for and treat children from birth through the teen years.
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