What to Look For in a Good Doctor

What makes a “good” primary care doctor? And how do you find one?

There are four characteristics by which you can assess a physician: advocacy, affability, availability, and ability.

Advocacy

A physician who is an advocate is connected, knows how to navigate you through challenges, and makes sure you get the care and treatment you need. They can connect you to the best specialists or facilities, know the right follow-up, and can coordinate care across multiple teams of providers.

Affability

You want your doctor to talk with you, not to you or down to you. An affable doctor remembers the human side of the art of medicine and loves patient care. This trait wasn’t always viewed as necessary, especially in some fields of medicine. Although your doctor may be the expert, it’s important that they bring you along in their decision-making process.

Availability

Consider how much access you want to have to your doctor. If you’re looking for someone available 24/7, you may be looking for a concierge doctor, whom you pay an annual fee or retainer for a certain amount of time and availability in their schedule. Other possible desires could be same-day appointments, prescription refills on weekends, house calls, etc.

Ability

It’s important that physicians keep up with the latest literature, as there is a 12-20 year lag between when something becomes a finding and when it becomes mainstream. Try to get a sense of whether your doctor has a passion for learning and keeping up with advancements in the field, which is part of practicing good medicine.

Here’s a list of ten questions to ask potential physicians in your search.

1. How long have you been practicing?
2. How do you think about balancing the line between prevention and treatment of disease? How much of your time with patients is spent focusing on the former versus the latter?
3. How long is the average visit with your patient?
4. How much time, on average, do you spend with each patient per year (i.e., in-person visits, video meetings, reviewing labs and records, phone calls, emails)?
5. Which lab tests and biomarkers do you consider essential for patient management?
6. What areas of medicine interest you the most, either beyond or within primary care?
7. Which conferences do you try to attend each year?
8. How much time, on average, do you spend per month staying informed of the latest research in medicine overall, such as reading broadly from journals like JAMA or NEJM?
9. How much time, on average, do you spend per month staying informed of the latest research in your areas of focus, such as specialty journals (e.g., lipidology, nutrition, exercise physiology)?
10. Are there any other things you would like prospective patients to know about you or your practice?

No doctor is perfect, and there will be trade-offs, but it’s important to consider all four criteria when choosing a physician.