Get a second opinion

Jeannie:
There are various sites on the internet that provide information about physicians in your state, and your particular state's Board of Medical Examiners is a good place to start, however in my opinion, the best way to avoid the hazards of picking a doctor at random is to already have an established relationship with a trusted physician, and when and if the need for additional expertise arises you can then ask for a personal recommendation and referral. I'd place personal referral as the number one priority and then an internet or written search for that doctor as of secondary importance. The State Licensing Board's site probably won't list any specific causes of disciplinary action, but you can email or write away requesting any that might be on file. I tend to give more credence to word-of-mouth information than information posted on the internet, and I consider myself fortunate to have had a friend who works in the Medical profession and was able to stear me away from a situation that might have ended unpleasantly.
-Catherine

Catherine,

Thanks for the info. The gyn I'm seeing now was personally recommended to me, and we seem to be doing fine. The gyn my family physician recommended to me wasn't even a gyn, but a general practioner who practiced with other gyns!! I only found out by accident.

I just keep reading about getting the second opinions, and it seems kind of weird in a way. I mean, I trust the doctor I'm with now, so I'm thinking, why get a second opinion? How do I know the doctor giving the second opinion is one I'd trust? I am not real crazy about going to several different doctors. I like building a relationship with a doctor, especially one that would do surgery on me!

Dear Jeannie,
I commend you for your resolve to establish a relationship with a doctor and trust in his/her advice. I regret the fact that I have in the past made the mistake of taking my good health for granted and assuming that it would last forever. I did not have a consistent relationship with an OB/GYN and had always consulted clinics for my routine exams. I waited until I had symptoms before seeking specific medical advice and by that time, I was anxious for any solution. Bad idea...very bad way of doing things. I found a doctor who seemingly knew "exactly" what my problem was, offered a radical solution after a fifteen minute examination, and then told me that "a hysterectomy is a routine operation and no cause for concern." That in itself should have set off bells of warning inside my head, but when you are in pain you can sometimes convince yourself that something that would otherwise seem absurd to the rational mind somehow in this case makes sense. I still don't quite know how I could have seriously considered allowing a doctor that I did not know well and with whom I had no prior point of reference, perform major surgery on me. I was uncomfortable with both his diagnosis and with his personal manner and it was then that I sought a second opinion.
The doctor that I am seeing now came to me highly recommended by several people that I trust, and ironically enough, once happened to be my next-door-neighbor's Medical partner. She is now a Medical Missionary in Kenya, Africa. If it should come to the point (after an endless round of tests and further physical probings) that I do have to have a hysterectomy, I feel confident in this doctor's ability to either do the surgery himself or place me in other competent hands. I could not put myself into an operating room if I did not have confidence in the surgeon's ability to do the job without causing complications, and I'm willing to undergo as many tests as necessary to insure that the root cause of my problem has been properly diagnosed and is being handled by someone who knows what they are doing.
I have learned my lesson and hope that others can learn before it is too late to establish a medical record before they are in pain and desperate for any relief. Desperation makes you vulnerable, and I must say that in the past I have spent more time picking out apples in the supermarket than in choosing a doctor to advise me about my health.
Catherine