Diagnosing Your Doctor: What Should You Know?

Choosing a doctor can be a life-or-death decision, but most people spend more time planning their next vacation than researching the credentials of their physician.

Although most doctors are qualified and do their job to the best of their abilities, nearly 3,000 doctors in the U.S. are disciplined each year by state medical boards for offenses such as negligence, incompetence, sexual misconduct, and breaking criminal laws.

Years ago, word of mouth was the only way to get information about a doctor's track record. Now, information ranging from disciplinary actions and malpractice suits to medical training and specialty certification is just a click away on the Internet.

But what information do you really need to know? And where should you go to get it? WebMD has the prescription for finding the doctor that's right for you.

What Do You Need to Know About Your Doctor?

When finding a new doctor or checking up on your own, there are a few basic pieces of information you should know:

• Is he or she licensed to practice medicine in the state where you live?
• What type of medical training did he or she receive (medical school, residency, internships, and fellowships)?
• Is he or she board certified in the specialty you desire (internal medicine, oncology, etc.)?
• Does he or she accept your type of medical insurance for payment?

"These are standard things that suggest that there is a minimal level of competency," says Michael Grodin, MD, professor and director of medical ethics at the Boston University School of Public Health.

Although it may be tempting to use where a doctor went to medical school as a measure of quality, Grodin warns against falling for the prestige factor.

"The fact is that there are people who graduated from Harvard Medical School who are brilliant scientists who I wouldn't want to touch my daughter," says Grodin. "On the other hand, there are people who graduated from lesser medical schools, at least by name, who are superb clinicians."

He says medical schools, unlike other types of graduate schools, are professional schools where everyone learns basically the same thing, and students must past standardized tests in order to move on.

However, John C. Nelson, MD, MPH, president of the American Medical Association, says those standards apply only to all accredited medical schools in the U.S.

"If the physician does not come from one of those schools, we have questions," says Nelson.

Graduates of foreign medical schools must pass a certification test to enter a residency or fellowship program in the U.S. and pass a United States Medical Licensing Exam in order to practice in the U.S.

Where to Get More Information

This type of basic information about doctors is readily available from many public sources, and experts say you shouldn't have to pay a web site or other source in order to get it. Several commercial Internet sites charge a fee for providing a background check on doctors.