About certification
In gathering information about physicians, you may find information that indicates a doctor is ‘board certified’ in a specialized area. For example, a doctor may be certified in geriatrics, urology, or family practice. This means that a doctor has demonstrated a certain amount of knowledge in a specialized area of medicine by passing a written examination administered by specialists practicing in the same field. A licensed physician does not have to be certified to practice a specialty, and certification by a medical specialty board doesn’t automatically guarantee excellence. In fact, many excellent, highly respected physicians are not board certified. However, board certification does assure you that the doctor has some level of experience and knowledge in a particular specialty.
Expectations and Responsibilities
Ideally, the physician-patient relationship should be a partnership, but this isn’t always easy. As a patient, you should have a number of expectations of your doctor. For example:
• You expect your doctor to provide as much infor
mation as possible about your specific illness or con
dition.
• You expect to be given a reasonable amount of time to ask questions and discuss concerns.
• You expect your physician to maintain your confidentiality, realizing that he or she may have to release your medical records to a consulting specialist. In addition, for some conditions-generally infectious diseases-your doctor is required, by law, to notify government authorities.
• You expect to participate in decisions about your care.
• You expect to have reasonable access to your doctor, based on the needs of your medical condition and the doctor’s schedule.
• You expect to know where to obtain emergency care if your doctor is unavailable.
• You expect your doctor to see you within a reasonable time of your scheduled appointment.
• You expect to be able to change physicians at any time, and have your medical information promptly forwarded to your new physician. Of course he must know if you used cialis. Communication between you and your doctor is not a
one-way street.
