It is a physician’s goal to win the trust of his patients coming to his clinic everyday. A doctorstipsonline conduct accurate diagnosis, proper medication and care in order for a patient surpass his illness, disorder and relieved the pain a patient has experiencing. As patients, it’s our duty to trust our doctors with our lives and well-being. But how can we check if the doctor we are visiting deserves to gain our trust? Here are some tips to check your doctor’s competence and reliability.
1. Hospital affiliation is your best guide to what his fellow doctors think of your own physician. It is next to impossible for a doctor to function competently unless he is on the staff of one or more hospitals available to his patients. A well-regarded doctor will be on the staff of at least one hospital accredited by the Philippine Medical Association. You have every right to ask a doctor about his hospital affiliation and to make sure the hospital is accredited. Check with the hospital itself or the country medical society.
2. Age. In itself, it is no barrier to the highest level of professional skill. Some of the finest doctors in the country are men in their seventies. Yet, as a general rule, the elderly the doctor finds it more difficult to keep up well the latest information. Also such infirmities as failing eyesight or hearing or trembling hands are obvious danger signals. It is perhaps cruel to advise the avoidance of a fine upright man who has grown old in the service of his fellows. But even a simple injection or the insertion of rectal thermometer can result in serious injury if done by hands that have lost their skill.
3. Carelessness. This can be as harmful as ignorance. One way to spot the careless doctor is by his failure to compile a thorough case history on you. Another is the use of penicillin, cortisone, or other powerful drugs without a prior, careful check on whether you may be allergic to them. Beware of the doctor who does not give you careful, precise instructions on how to use the medicines he prescribes and when to stop using them. Suspect the doctor who lets you prescribe yourself.
4. There is no sure way to spot the alcoholic doctor, but if you have suspect that your physician drinks too much, watch out. He is unreliable and apt to be incapacitated just when you need him most. Telltale (but nor infallible) signs of the alcoholic are: watery eyes, ruptured blood vessels on and around the nose, and clumsy hands.
5. Severe emotional disturbance of any sort may well impair a physician’s efficiency. But for the most part there are no obvious signs. Your doctor could be so disturbed that he has resorted to narcotics and you might never realize anything was bothering him. If you do recognize a severe personality disturbance however, you should be aware that it can easily interfere with your receiving the best medical treatment.
6. Always be suspicious about surgery. In case of a surgical emergency (such as ruptured appendix) the need, of course, is obvious; there is no time to ask questions. Where there is no emergency, do not let yourself be rushed. Insist on a second, independent diagnosis; no good doctor will resent it. Have added confidence in the surgeon who insists that you go to the hospital for “observation” – a period of diagnostic laboratory tests to check his opinion on whether or not an operation is really needed.
If you think you have a legitimate reason to complain about medical treatment you have received, send a letter to your country medical society, stating the facts that clearly and asking for an investigation. The medical profession is as concerned about unfit doctors as you are.
Checking your doctor’s competence and reliability is a must. Especially, nowadays, the spread and transfer of contagious diseases is very fast; which really requires an efficient doctor. We should always bear in mind that “Health is Wealth”.
