Finding the right doctor is as important as finding the right school for your children. Picking a health care provider can be frustrating and time consuming. Here are some tips to helping you through the process.

1.Shop for the right doctor - Not every doctor is right for your illness or injury.

2.Know your family history - what chronic illness do members of your family have? Diabetes, cancer, ear infections. Knowing these things ahead of time can help your health care provider plan preventative measures and screening tests.

3.Make a list of questions for the doctor - Interview them as if they are applying for a job, essentially they are. How easy is it to get to see a doctor in an emergency? Do you see a doctor, a certified nurse or physicians assistant? Do they have evening or weekend hours? What is their policy on medications?

4.Don't self diagnose - Tell the doctor all your symptoms and let him/her tell you what the problem is.

5.Once diagnosed DO YOUR HOMEWORK - Use all the resources at your disposal to find out about your illness or injury. (What are treatments, cures, alternative therapies)

6.Don't take no for a answer - If you know sometime is wrong to let a doctor or medical professional tell you that there is nothing wrong.

7.Listen to your instinct, to your own body - Only you can tell the doctor what symptoms you are having or how much pain you are in.

Learn more about this author, Shari Ouellette.
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