Choosing an Ob-Gyn Doctor
Plano, Dallas, Frisco, Carrolton, and surrounding areas
The author of this article is Dr Keith J. Reisler, a well-respected, board-certified Plano Ob-Gyn Physician. Dr. Reisler has been practicing in Plano as a specialist in obstetrics and gynecology for over 24 years and has extensive experience in the diagnosis and treatment of all obstetric and Gynecologic conditions. He believes in a minimally invasive approach when possible, and he treats and gives second opinions to patients in Plano, Dallas, Richardson, Frisco, Allen, McKinney, Carrollton, Colony, and surrounding areas.
Choosing an Ob-Gyn doctor, somebody who specializes in obstetrics and gynecology, can be a daunting task. Initially you may be seeing your Ob-Gyn physician for your annual pap smear, or annual well woman exam. However this doctor may also serve as your primary care doctor for some, and may be the doctor who eventually takes care of your pregnancy or performs a surgery on you. An Ob-Gyn has to be in command of a large wealth of medical information and know when and how to make appropriate decisions and referrals. You want to choose somebody who is ethical and knowledgeable and has a proven track record. Recently a couple of patients of mine moved out of town and asked me how to find their next Ob-Gyn physician. When I emailed them some pointers I thought I might help others by passing this advice along in this article.
Diplomate of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)
I recommend that your Ob-Gyn be board certified. Being board certified and being a Diplomate of ACOG are exactly the same thing and interchangeable. Ob-Gyns must complete a four-year Residency program after medical school. They then take a written test and if they pass, then they are allowed to take the Oral Board exam about 2 years into their private practice. At the time of their oral boards, they are interviewed and quizzed orally by a more experienced physician, regarding the management of their patients in private practice. If they pass this test, they become Board Certified. Being board certified is important, but is only one step to being a good doctor. All Ob-Gyns should be board certified but not all Board Certified Ob-Gyns are great doctors. After the initial certification Ob-Gyns must continue to be tested yearly to maintain their certification. They are required to read recent articles and pass a test each year. This helps to keep them current with the literature. Great doctors spend a lot more time on continuing education than just the required amount. See the paragraph about experience below.
How do you choose an Ob-Gyn?
Ask friends who they see and if they highly recommend their Ob-Gyn physician. Does their doctor spend time with them and answer all of their questions? Does their Ob-Gyn treat them with respect and collaborate with them, providing them with information and options so that they can become completely informed in order to make appropriate decisions about their healthcare and bodies. For example, if they are seeking birth control did their doctor fully inform them of all options and all side effects? I have seen patients over the years that had no idea that the birth control given to them by their doctor was causing major problems in their lives. If they are taking birth control pills, did their doctor discuss different effects from different dosages and brands and possibly side effects of the pill? Most women feel fine on birth control pills. But some women will experience weight gain, nausea, irritability, mood swings, and decreased libido (sex drive). Does their Ob-Gyn offer them conservative options or does their doctor try to push surgeries on them? If surgery is necessary does the Ob-Gyn use minimally invasive techniques with quicker recoveries. Does their Ob-Gyn refer them to specialists when needed? If they have seen their doctor for pregnancy, did their doctor provide them with options for childbirth and respect all of their wishes? Did they feel like a Cesarean Section was done too quickly? Does their doctor perform sonograms in their office and lab draws in the office for the patients’ convenience? How comfortable are they with the office staff, and have employees worked in the office for a while or does there seem to be constant turnover? Answers to many of these questions may tell you something about the character of the doctor. Since, women recommend their friends to their Ob-Gyn, this paragraph may be a good starting point for the conversation.
Calling Hospitals for referrals
Calling a referral service at the hospital might help guide you to a physician that meets some of the general characteristics that you are looking for. However usually all of the doctors who have admitting privileges at the hospital are placed on a list. They are not sorted by good doctor or great doctor. The hospital does not want to show preference to one over the other but can tell you about experience and specialties and location. This could be a starting point. One trick that may work best for pregnant women, who have moved, is to call the Hospital where you will be having the baby and ask for Labor and Delivery. Then ask to speak to the charge nurse and ask their opinion about which Ob-Gyns they recommend. The nurses know which doctors take great care of their patients. I have received many referrals from labor and delivery nurses over the years and take care of many nurses and doctors. Be sure to ask for a doctor with experience. Sometimes the nurses might want to help the new doctor in town, so be clear that you are looking for a great doctor who has been around a while. Theoretically the nurses are not supposed to recommend one doctor over the other, but many times they are more than willing to help. Remember there are different shifts of nurses so if there is no luck on the day shift, you might call the night shift. The night nurses really are able to see how doctors care for pregnant women at 3 AM under stress. This method can also be a way to find a pediatrician. Call the New Born Nursery at the hospital and ask which pediatricians the nurses like and who do they use for their own children. Once again this is probably against policy, but I think most of the nurses are more than willing to help.
Find a doctor with experience
The odds are that if you are reading this far into the article that you take your health care seriously. You are looking for a doctor who you can trust and will take great care of you, and you might be looking for a higher level of care than the average, and want to know how to find that person. So much of what Ob-Gyns learn is actually learned after Residency. I continue to learn every day and have been in private practice for 24 years. And I fully expect to be in practice another 25 years. The internet has given doctors immediate access to up to date information. And I am constantly researching this information throughout the day and correlating it with my experience and patient needs. I do twice as many hours of continuing medical educations as is required. Four years of Residency cannot possibly expose an Ob-Gyn to all that they need to know. Many doctors come out of Residency with very black and white thinking. After many years of experience you begin to realize that each patient is very unique and what works for one patient may not work for another. Over time a doctor just becomes more expert at what they are doing. Residency training programs are also not very good at educating doctors as to the side effects of medications and certain treatments. It is only through many years of experience that “it all comes together”. Also surgical expertise must be developed over many years. Many times residents are only limited to certain procedures during their training. So the truly great doctors will be the ones who embrace their life as a doctor and devote themselves to keeping up with the recent literature, procedures, new medications, but also correlating this with their experience. Most board certified Ob-Gyns, whether young or experienced, will take good care of most problems. This paragraph pertains to going to the “next level” of care. What is most important in the end is for a doctor to know their limitations and to refer a patient if another doctor is more experienced with their problem or needed procedure.
Are awards and honors important?
When looking on the internet you may see that some doctors have been voted “Best Doctors in America” (5% of all doctors in America are on this list). Or have been voted in “D-Magazine” or other magazines. What I will tell you is that there are great Ob-Gyn doctors who have never been voted by other doctors for any of these awards for a variety of reasons. A larger hospital may have more doctors voting, and some great doctors at smaller hospitals may be left out. Or many doctors just may not vote. The best doctor for you may just not be on the list. Certainly if somebody has been voted by other doctors as excellent in their field, then this may give a patient a certain level of security for that doctor.
In the end your comfort level with whomever you choice is most important. As stated above, your Ob-Gyn should treat you with respect, answer all of your questions, and provide you with options. Use your hunches and ask a lot of questions. If there is something that doesn’t seem right about the interaction or the office then you are probably right and move on. Good Luck!