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33 responses total.

Valerie, I really suggest Cammilla Kelly.  She's an osteopath which
means almost by definition that she'd rather prescribe a non-drug
treatment first if her patient is willing -- but where you prefer
medication, you won't have to argue with her.

She also doesn't seem to have any inkling what a "stupid" or "kooky" question
might be.  She's always taken whatever time I wanted to answer as many
questions as i had.

Her office is on Packard near Carpenter.

She also operates on the assumption that know my body a lot better than she
ever can.  If I say it's that same blamed infection, she
tends to believe me.  She may still check it out to be sure, or ask searching
questions, but I never get the sense that she's annoyed at my having an oinion
as I have with every other Dr. I've consulted.

I found herafter a very long string of bad Dr. luck.

I go to the M-Care Point-of-Service doctor I've been assigned, and think
he is very open and cooperative - and generally gives me doctor's sample
meds, if any are needed. But I presume you will want a female doctor,
which mine is not.

My doctor, Kevin Taylor, has the qualifications that you list in
#0. He's with the Medicine Faculty Associates clinic in the McAuley
Health Center. Unfortunately, I think he's not taking new patients
right now, but you could check. There may be another doctor in that
clinic whose practice is currently open. As the name of the clinic
suggests, the doctors are teachers as well as practicing
physicians, which means that they tend to keep up-to-date with
current medical practice and are predisposed to explain what
they're doing and to answer questions.

I go to M-Care.  I like my Dr. because he's open minded and has the same
values as I.  He's also unique.  I've assisted with my own surgery, and
he's been know to do surgery with a Swiss Army knife.  He also never 
graduated from High School and had 4" removed from both legs a result of
being hit by a car.

My only advice is try to find a Dr. who shares your values.

I'm not sure I care more about my doctor's values than I do about his
medical abilities. 

Chances are that if a doctor passes the medical boards and holds a valid
license to practice medicine than there's a good chance that his medical
abilities are adequate.  The rest one needs to jude for ones self.  My
Dr. has done time on the sharp end of a scalpel, enduring much pain, and
we partake in similar sports activities, etc.  When he hears my arithmetic
heartbeat, he says it's good where others may be concerned.  He explains
things and is easy to understand.

Hints on interviewing a doctor...
Write down all the things you expect from the doctor and turn them into
questions.  Then write down all the things the doctor should expect from you
and make them statements of truth.  Share both with the doctor.  If you are
not sure of how to approach certain questions, then come up with a "suppose
such and such should happen...how would you feel/handle/deal with this?" sort
of question.  In my experience, doctors who won't take the time to be
interviewed (I always offer to pay for their time), also waon't take the time
to really listen to you or explain stuff to you.  Good luck!

Valerie, you might want to interview Dr. Michael Chartrand.
He is an outstanding young physician and I think he'd be a good fit for 
you.  He's male but I think you'd not be bothered by that in very
short order.  He's that special.

He's not my doctor but if I had the choice, he would be.

(Ha ha ha..! #6  Should be arrhythmic over there... Not math stuff! ;)

I wondered about that - figured you were going down for the count.

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M-Care also takes private insurance it seems.  I found a doc I liked and
asked if he'd take me as a patient.  Turned out he worked for Briarwood
M-Care (Brier patch, as he calls it.)
 
My wife likes Dr. Barsh (sp?) for gynecology.  She's *very* popular though
and you have to make apointments half a year ahead of time :-/

This is a little off the topic, but it occurred to me that I haven't
had a "personal physician" since I've lived in Michigan. The adverts
always say "see  your personal physician", but I've had the impression
that that has gone the way of the Dodo. My children have had regular
pediatrician, but I've always just gone to some clinic or to an assigned
hmo-type doctor. "Personal physicians" really disappeared at about the
time house-calls did. 

Not so, Rane.  I've had the same doctor now for about 10 years.
She knows me.  I knew her.  There is continuity between appointments
and the knowledge that someone would know me and my history in a crisis.
I'd bet most people who get regular preventive care still
have *a* personal physician.

Going to a clinic and seeing a (different) doctor each visit gets
you through a problem but someone isn't really taking responsibility for
a long-term overview, except you.  

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Maybe my impression (in #14) is because I never needed to see a doctor
more frequently than an average of every five years or so. Rather hard
to establish a relationship. I know my dentist much better! The UM has
periodical health exams for faculty, every five years, but there one
may see the same doctor (or NP) a couple times in a row, but not enough
to call them your personal care giver. 

I used to take that approach -- see a doctor infrequently, as needed,
for specific problems -- so I didn't have a "personal physician"
either. But when I reached my mid-40's, I decided that it would be
prudent to have my general condition monitored on a regular basis,
so I acquired a doctor and started having annual checkups. After
all, middle age is when people tend to start having things go wrong
with them, and an ounce of prevention (or early detection) is worth a
pound of cure. So far I've checked out as being in good health every
year, so one could argue that my checkups haven't been "necessary",
but I think of my annual physicals as a worthwhile form of insurance.

I appreciate your point. I have had more things "going wrong" since
my mid 60's. They have been acute, however - like gallstones. But maybe
its time to start investing those ounces.

There is another benefit to selecting a personal physician and developing
a relationship over preventative visits - you won't be an orphan patient
when you arrive, in crisis, in an ER, and simply get whomever is on-call. 

That's what I call the Las Vegas style of health care provider selection.

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When I showed up at the ER with acute cholecystitus all I wanted was
relief. Whoever was on call was fine with me, and would have been even if
I had a "personal physician". I wasn't looking for a "relationship", I was
looking for medical attention. However if the disease was something that I
was under treatment for with a "personal physician", such as a heart
problem or diabetes, etc., then I think it is very important that that
doctor be contacted to consult on emergency treatment. 

I'd expect (except under unusual holiday/vacation situations) that it
would be my doctor who would advise I go to the hospital for acute
abdominal pain.  And I would expect my doctor to consult with the
Emergency Room doctor as to the ER doctor's clinical evaluation.  My
doctor would then direct my care, though her residents, visit me as soon
as reasonably possible, and be responsible for my course of treatment. 
And it would be my personal physician would would prescribe my discharge
care and follow-up. 

This is not an unreasonable expectation.  It's done all the time. It's why
you have a personal physician.  I'd be very uncomfortable simply being
assigned to the doctor on-call. But that's me.  Your sense of concern may
vary. ;-)

I've always made my own decisions of whether I need medical attention, and
what kind (my wife, a clinic, ER...or, if I can wait, my "Personal Care
Provider"). It would have never occurred to me to ask a doctor before
seeing the doctor I thought I needed to see. Nowadays, of course, I have
to call my PCP and get an OK -- eventually (can't remember when). Maybe I
go about things this way because I knocked around the world for a while,
and medical help was something one had to seek on one's own, if one could
even find any that spoke English. (The last time I had to deal with
doctors like that, it was Greek.)

I am under ongoing treatment for high bp and having a personal physician is
an ablsolute must...how else would you be able to discuss all the things you
are doing to improve your situation without having to repeat the same info
five million times?  How else would the doc be able to truly evaluate your
condition if they did not know you on an ongoing basis?

Me too on Freida's #25. High bp and all.

I don't have a primary doctor, and have ended up with whoever was available
the last several times I've had to go to the ER.  I've generally been pretty
happy with whoever was available.

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When you simply go to an emergency room for crisis care you 
don't get a lot of attention paid to maintenance stuff.
Yearly preventative physicals should included a skin check
for suspicious lesions that may be malignant melanoma or
basal cell carcinoma.  It should include a prostate check
so that your first sign of prostate cancer isn't when you
can't urinate (or can't stop urinating).  It should included
blood testing that screens for early signs of liver and 
kidney disease that otherwise would get quite advanced
before you'd have any pain.  All things you really can't
evaluate on your own and the list goes on and on.  

We take our children, cats and dogs in yearly, no sweat.
But educated adults with good health insurance find 
reasons why they don't need to do the same.  

Go figure.

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Here's one that you might like and she is an M-Care physician.

Dr. Sonya Mitrovich-Lozowski, Internal Medicine.  She is director of the
North East U of M Health Center, near Earhart and Plymouth Road.  She is
quite good and I've never felt rushed, not at all.  She has been my
physician for over 10 years now.  She'll also provide routine gyn services
if you'd rather not have to see a gynocologist for contraception and paps.

I don't know if she is presently accepting patients but it might
be worth asking.  The new number - 647-5650.

s/gynecologist/gynocologist

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