Arrrrggghhhh! Doctor shopping....

After reading on FB all the desperate folks looking for a GP, I think I’d move to another city. That wouldn’t help that there’d be one less competitor for all the folks retiring here.
 
My primary doctor is old. I'm dreading finding a new one when she retires. I've already lost my dentist. He was great. I went to him for 35 years. I don't like the doctor who took over his practice, so I've been searching for a new one.
 
We just moved 2000 miles in February and finding doctor's in your "network" is a challenge. We've even experienced a doctor that WAS in our network but wouldn't take us or return our calls. We suspect it was because my husband had had a total knee replacement in AZ and the Ortho doc here in PA didn't want to "maintain" someone else's work.
 
yes this is the worst............ finding someone you feel good about dealing with that also is in network or whatever.
I think it is a conspiracy (joking) to keep people from using a doctor until they absolutely have to. Then complain about preventive care would have helped .......
 
About 10 years ago on the advice of a dear friend who was a doctor, I switched doctors from the older gentleman I’d been seeing for a few years to a younger woman my friend recommended.

The rationale was that as a general rule, the younger the patient is, the easier the transition is to a new doctor. And no matter what the patient’s age the transition is less stressful if it’s the patients own idea rather than being forced to change because of the doctor’s retirement or whatever. So I found myself someone who would certainly not be retiring during my approximate lifetime!

She’s a great doc, and I’m noticing some of her approaches are more updated than her predecessor, I imagine because of more recent training. I know doctors are supposed to keep up with the latest research and technologies but I also know (again from my doctor friend) that the sheer quantity of new material on a monthly basis is overwhelming!

Anyway that’s been my strategy. I did similar with my dentist, several years earlier, though that was because my old guy dentist died. ☹️ It was just by chance that I chose a gal who was young. I really lucked out with her though, she’s an absolute gem!!
 
I belong to a health care system with several nearby clinics; each with more than one doctor, so I can switch if I don't care for the regular one I'm seeing. I like her and she is younger than myself (who isn't ?), so I guess I'm covered for a while.
 
The medical group that I have been with changed to a new overlord. When my primary left I was assigned a new primary. This was close to two years age and I have only met him once via Zoom. Nice young man. Respectful and a great bedside manor, Zoom manor I should say. I may actually meet him this month, but, that could change. I don't really care since I don't take their advice anyway. I didn't make this appointment. They made it because...
 
jujube said:
My primary physician of many years is retiring, so I must find a new primary.

It ain't easy. I swear that they're trying to hold out long enough so I'll die before they have to see me.
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I hear your anguish but try to look at the possible "bright" side.

When you finally find one ... Think of it as a fresh start. Perhaps the new guy will have a different education, take a different approach ..... make you feel better . Fix what's been ailin' ya ....
 
Me too. I had a wonderful primary care doc for about 15 years. He was younger than I and his announcement that he was retiring was quite surprising. He encouraged me to continue on with his replacement who he had interviewed and found to be capable despite being a new “wet behind the ears” doctor. I’ve seen him twice and I’m ready to move on. He does seem to do the clinical stuff okay but just doesn’t have a pleasing bedside manner or show any interest in learning about me and my needs.
 
The doctor I was seeing left the area awhile back. I go to a group with many MDs (kind of a madhouse) and everyone just got moved around to the other doctors. Luckily I like the one I got moved to.

No, it's really hard and frustrating to find a new MD and I think it gets harder all the time.
 
I am moving away from the best doctors I have ever had, and that saddens me. I'm going to go to my cousin's doctor, just to have someone, and take advice from his friends who have had cancer, about who to see. If I don't like the new docs, I'll keep trying to find someone I might be able to trust, someone I like. Of course, I'll Google the heck out of doctors in the area, too. I just need a PCP, an interventional cardiologist, and an oncologist. Oh, and a dentist. Luckily, UMass has a facility nearby.

I am very grateful that I found such wonderful doctors in this small town. Two of them saved my life, and my PCP is just top-notch.
 
Our local surgery was run by 2 GP's who were great. They were the sort who knew patients as people, not just someone with an illness.
When they retired, the surgery had a number of locums, but a country practice didn't seem to appeal and the surgery was in danger of closing.
It is now a 'satellite' to the larger practice in the nearest town. The town surgery is a 'teaching practice' so when you visit a doctor, an experienced GP will often be accompanied by a final year medical student or a 'trainee' GP. As long as you're happy with this, you get the advantage of the GP explaining things in much greater detail.
 
My doctor moved to another location in Twin Cities which is too far for me to travel, especially in winter. So I've been looking for a new doctor for a couple of years. It is difficult to find a suitable one for me. I've tried 3 Primary physicians with no luck. Finally, I decided to try a new person who saw me at Urgent care in a small nearby clinic. Turns out she is a Certified Physician Assistant. Young and helpful. That is my new doctor. She is young, and treats me with respect. She's very capable and friendly. She is not an M.D. but a C.P.A.

https://bemoacademicconsulting.com/blog/pa-vs-md
 
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It's funny. I kind of thought of it as one of those "getting old" milestones when we first started having our providers retire. The first one was a dentist. We continued with the practice, but it was just never the same. Same for eye doctors. First went to them in 10th grade. Both partners ultimately retired. In this case the junior guy that they brought on to inherit the practice was pretty good. But then the practice sold out to one of those big groups and, while the doctor remained, the admin/customer service side all went down hill.

Then we retired and moved to Florida. It's been over a year and we're still trying to find and settle into new providers. The first doctor that we chose seemed pretty good, but we only saw him for a couple of regular visits when he suddenly announced his retirement! So our next appt will be with another doctor in the same practice. And so it goes...
 
When my PCP referred me to a specialist practice last month, he warned me that it would take forever for me to get an appointment, that they were really running behind. So the specialists practice tells me yes, they got the referral from my PCP but that I have to keep calling them and reminding them that I need an appointment because there are about 200 other people waiting for appointments with 1 of the 3 doctors there. :(
 
officerripley said:
When my PCP referred me to a specialist practice last month, he warned me that it would take forever for me to get an appointment, that they were really running behind. So the specialists practice tells me yes, they got the referral from my PCP but that I have to keep calling them and reminding them that I need an appointment because there are about 200 other people waiting for appointments with 1 of the 3 doctors there. :(
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Why on earth wouldn’t they put you on a waiting list? It seems like the person who happens to call in when a spot is available would be lucky and get it not the person who has been waiting longer.
 
Jules said:
Why on earth wouldn’t they put you on a waiting list? It seems like the person who happens to call in when a spot is available would be lucky and get it not the person who has been waiting longer.
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Oh, I am on a waiting list along with a couple hundred other people; I suspect that the calling in is to remain on the list maybe, IDK. I'm going to call them one more time and if I still don't have an apptmt. scheduled, I'm gonna call my PCP and ask about a specialist in the next town, if he can refer me to him; my huzz's cardiologist said the doc in that next town is really good. 'Course I've also gotta check and make sure Medicare and my suppl. ins. will allow me to go there and if I need surgery, pay for it at that other hospital. Wish me luck! o_O
 

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