StrokeSurvivorBlog

Finding the right doctor may take perseverance and patience, but don’t give up. After months of going to numerous doctors, we finally found two who have the knowledge, expertise and personality that we were looking for. Now I can breathe a sigh of relief that we have a team of health-care professionals who truly desire to increase Steve’s longevity and quality of life.

It takes more than knowledge and skill to make a good doctor. It is equally important to find a doctor who you can trust and with whom you have a good rapport. A combination of trust and competency is paramount to a good doctor-patient relationship. If you don’t respect one another, you will less likely follow their recommendations.

We looked for a doctor who would support our philosophy of health care. I feel it’s important to also use natural means to treat Steve’s condition. When I told our original doctor about the vitamin supplements Steve was taking, he told me “there’s no evidence that they work”, and then said point blank, “Your philosphy is not the same as mine”. He got extremely irritated when I questioned him about certain drugs he was prescribing. I was concerned about the side effects, and he only wanted to prescribe a new medication. He finally said, “This is what I’m recommending, but you don’t have to follow my advice.”  We lost respect for him.

In our search for a new primary care physician, we kept asking every therapist and nurse we knew if they knew of a good Internist. One physical therapist recommended a homeopathic doctor he knew. She was very nice, but she was not a primary care physician. However, she was the one who recommended Dr. Bongiorno, our new internist. When I asked him if he was opposed to vitamin supplements, he said, “Take whatever works.” At our first appointment it was Dr. Bongiorno who diagnosed Steve with congestive heart failure (CHF) and ordered the Echocardiogram, which confirmed his diagnosis. We saw numerous doctors regarding Steve’s difficulty in breathing, and not one of them ever suggested CHF. All of this confirmed that he was the right primary care physician for us.

It was Dr. Bongiorno who recommended we see a cardiologist. We saw one in the hospital, but we didn’t have a rapport with him. So we asked Dr. Bongiorno who he would recommend. Then he told us of two new cardiologists that he “just loved” because they were very innovative and progressive. Because we highly trusted and respected him, we followed his recommendation and made an appointment with Dr. Rider, and we are so glad that we did. Both Dr. Bongiorno and Dr. Rider have given us a renewed hope.

Other things to look for when finding a new doctor is whether a physician is board-certified. That means he/she has taken several extra years of specialty training and passed a rigorous board examination. Some boards require continuing education and periodic recertification too.

Along with certification and credentials, the AMA recommends researching the following details when selecting a doctor: