Upstream Health Solutions

Of course many doctors are very concerned with their patients’ welfare, but this is by no means always the case. Sometimes a doctor becomes “bad” through years of overwork and burden caused by simply having too many patients. Nevertheless, you deserve to have the very best health care, and so does your family. Here is a list of things to watch for to determine whether or not you are seeing a bad doctor.

You notice that his communication skills are not good.

If your doctor doesn’t seem to want to communicate with you, this should act as a real warning signal. If you want to be sure of getting the best in medical care, it is imperative that you have excellent communication with your doctor.  This means both give and take. Communication is a two-way street. When you choose your doctor, you should be able to feel confident that he will want to know about your symptoms and that he will want to talk with you about your concerns. Your doctor should listen to you thoroughly. He should not interrupt you while you are explaining your symptoms and concerns. That’s the way misdiagnoses occur or completely missed medical problems happen. Any good doctor will have enough time to listen to you and ask you questions about your symptoms, no matter how busy his schedule may be.

He just gives you a prescription without really knowing what the problem is.

If your doctor just writes you a prescription and doesn’t even think about exploring natural and alternative solutions, he is probably a bad doctor. A good doctor always weighs all the options and chooses the safest alternative. Of course, sometimes a prescription is the answer to your problem. However, prescription medications should not be the only solutions your doctor ever proposes. There are quite a few medical conditions that can be effectively treated with lifestyle change. Slightly elevated blood pressure is an example of this. Double check to be sure your doctor is telling you about all possible options before you agree to take a prescription.

Your doctor tells you to do one thing but does another himself.

A credibility gap is when your doctor tells you that you need to get more exercise and watch your diet, while he is quite clearly a junk-food-loving couch potato. Of course your doctor probably doesn’t have a lot of time to work out. Nonetheless, he doesn’t need to have a bunch of junk food wrappers and overflowing ash trays sitting around his office. Of course, a good doctor will lead by example. It is his obligation to model proper health behavior for you.

He leaves you confused.

When a bad doctor is finished with you, you still have questions. You know you have a bad doctor if he is in such a hurry to hand you your prescription and rush off to the next patient that he doesn’t even tell you what will happen next. A good doctor will explain your diagnosis, give you a list of tests that will be needed, tell you how to treat your condition, and explain any side effects you may experience with your medication. It is understandable that your doctor may not have time to do a complete presentation with slides and bar graphs; however, he should be able to tell you what you diagnosis is, give you a list of tests you will need to have, explain how you will need to treat your condition, and forewarn you about any side effects your medications may have. When you leave, you shouldn’t be more confused than you were when you arrived.

When you try to call a “bad” doctor, you will often be unable to reach him.

You can reach a good doctor when you need to. If you get an answering machine when you call his office and it just gives you the number of the emergency room, you will probably want to think about looking for another doctor. Good doctors take calls themselves or make arrangements with their colleagues to share the responsibility of taking calls. A good doctor makes sure his patients can always reach a doctor for proper care as needed.

Naturally, you will want your doctor to be up on the latest things. This includes not only conventional medicine, but also alternatives. Don’t let yourself be hurt by the unprofessional actions of a bad doctor.