Today's Lecture: Finding Doctors

FINDING DOCTORS ...
is easy - yeah, right! Finding the right doctor is tough. They are the experts. At the beginning, you don't really know much except what a family member or friend might tell you. Maybe your doctor has recommended someone - usually in their building or a friend. Or they "heard good things" about a doctor. And there is always the phone directory <-- that's a joke.

In my experience, the best way to get the BEST doctor is to find one at a university hospital - preferably a teaching hospital - or at a TOP NOTCH rehab institute. These doctors are on the cutting edge of treatments and knowledge. They arent sitting in their little offices in the middle of no-where learning from papers and the occasional seminar. These university doctors are on the front line of care.

One disadvantage to these can be the time it takes to actually get into their offices. It is not unusual to see a wait-list of three and four months. But, remember, time passes whether you are on that list or not. So, get on that list! Call back often to see if you can pick up a cancellation.

Sometimes the location is inconvenient. They can be far from your home or in a dangerous neighborhood. But after the initial months, visits to the doctor are infrequent. And isnt your child worth the work?

Also, you tend to see them "in clinic" which can mean monsterous waits - over two hours in many cases. You can minimize these waits by trying to get the earliest possible appointment when you have the choice. Otherwise, you'll just have to bring enough to do - perhaps plan to eat in the hospital cafeteria.

I've found university and rehab docs to be the least rushed. As long as you arent rambling they are willing to stand there and answer questions. In fact, I've found they really are interested in helping you when your questions are well thought out. (On the other hand, they seem to have very little patience with the predicted prognosis questions - will she walk? will she talk? is she affected cognitively?)Our doctor from Chicago Rehab actually answers questions sent via email within a day. I know they've seen almost everything and any inconvenience associated with them is well worth it.

So, get thyself to a university/teaching hospital!

Lecture for today is over!