Your doctor vs a locum: which is your preference?

Personal doctor. Unless you are wanting to be on the down and low with a sexually transmitted disease.

First of all, I have never heard the term locum and had to look it up. I like that, thanks.

Second, my personal doc is great, but I’m not opposed to using a locum if they will actually listen to me. I know my history better than anyone.

My family practice doctor that I’ve been going to for 6 years is over booked and spends less than 10 minutes each visit. He walks in and asks me what I want. I tell him. He gives it to me. I walk out. Any doctor or PA can do that.

I’ve had to see who is available for some time, and I feel like I get substandard care.

I had a PCP in the 90’s, but in the Aughts he began to be rushing through exams, and just asking why you wanted to see him, stopped asking how I was at my annual physical. He retired in 2010.

Found another doctor I really liked, she was very good, but she moved eighteen months ago. Now I only get to see this guy who is a bit of a doofus, and doesn’t really checkin on how I am.

Depends on the issue. For something acute – infection, rash, etc., – it doesn’t matter who looks at it, because it’s a pretty mechanical function.

For routine, long term, annual exams and visit, my regular internal med person because she knows my history.

The only negative to a ‘locum’ – especially at an urgent care place on a weekend – is that they are so busy covering their insurance asses that they don’t listen to me. But that’s a long story…

My own Doctor that I had for years was far better than the “sit in/resident Doctor”, that almost killed my newborn from bad advice. Thank God that I made an appointment with a specialist who determined in one visit what was going wrong with my newborn.
Sit in Doctor advice for 8 weeks told me “just to feed my newborn sugar water only!”
( she could not hold down milk and constantly vomited it up and thus cried all the time..of course( hungry)!
Turned out that the specialist determined “milk allergy ” and the baby was place on a soy based milk regime and grew well after that.
BTW that pediatric Doctor also made a visit to that (“sit in/resident) Doctors office and rimed him and the Clinic that was supposed to supervise him?