How do I pick a doctor?

Are we talking… General Practitioner…? Or is this for a specific need?

It’s a sad truth that more people review restaurants than doctors online. I review medical practitioners on Yelp.com. Maybe others do to. The way the system is set up, even if you KNOW what is wrong with you, you usually have to see a general practitioner or internal medicine doctor before you can see a specialist. I try to avoid major hospitals if possible because I’ve found the waits are usually VERY LONG and the service isn’t that great. You can Google the doctor’s name specifically, and sometimes they will have a website, have published books or peer-reviewed journal articles, or you might find they competed in a marathon.

Ask everyone you know who their doctor is and if they like them. If enough people who go to the same one say “yes”, pick that one.

Also, because there is more info readily available on symptoms and causes than doctors, I like to research the heck out of my particular symptoms so when I go in to see a doctor I already have a good idea of what to expect, what my options are and what’s going on. If you already know what you need, you don’t need to rely on the doctor as much, and having the perfect doctor becomes less important. Most doctors in my experience are so focused on turning out patients they aren’t that great. I guess this approach might not work for complicated diagnoses, but I’ve been lucky in having only minor ailments so far.

Agree with @augustlan. Ask a bunch of people whose opinion you trust who their doctor is and whether or not they like them. (Also ask for their reasons.) If you know any doctors socially, definitely ask them who they use. Doctors tend to like to go to other good doctors. :-)

I think word of mouth is the best review you can get of a doctor.