By checking your physicians background, you'll find out what their strengths and weaknesses are. Remember, 50% of all doctors graduated in the bottom 50% of their class!



Trusting your choice of physician is vitally important. Tell your chosen doctor when you are going to run a background check on them. If they become hesitant or ill-tempered, then it's probably time to find a doctor that is comfortable with what you'll discover about them.

Most doctors background checks include the following information:

* Physician's education credentials

* Awards the physician has received

* Published articles they have authored

* Academic or hospital appointments

* Unique expertise

* The affiliations with which the doctor has a membership

* Board certification status

* Status of their license in each state

* Notices showing any professional misconduct

* Physician credential ratings

* Nationwide malpractice court judgments

* A nationwide search for disciplinary action

It is important to also know that most doctors get sued at least once during their career. There have been measures put through congress to limit the amount of frivolous lawsuits brought against people in the medical profession, but the truth is that patients will sue their doctors even when the doctors did nothing wrong.

A doctor that has a large number of malpractice lawsuits showing up in their records is not a good thing. Most doctors will have at least a few malpractice suits against them, but when there are a lot of them it's time to look for a new doctor.

Your time is probably well-spent by performing a general background check of your doctor by yourself before going through the effort of an extensive background research.

Make time to sit down and talk with each of your doctor candidates before committing to any one of them. You're in the drivers seat here - you don't need them, they need your business.

While interviewing the candidates to become your doctor, ask them anything that you're curious about or that bothers you. If they feel they are too important to spend a few moments with you, or that you're asking "dumb" questions, then immediately leave and choose a "good" doctor and not some jerk who has a degree and a big head.

Ask the doctor for both professional and patient references. Check with the patients to see what kind of experience they have had with the doctor and check with the colleagues to verify they view the doctor is qualified.

You should also ask people in your community, informally, what they think of the different doctors you are considering to be your primary care provider. This type of informal doctors background check is often the best kind of background check to conduct. After all, it is highly unlikely that the references provided to you by the doctor will say anything negative.

Verify that your candidates are telling the truth by making a list of questions that will be provided on a detailed background check and then, during your interview, asking them each of the questions. Jot down what each of them told you and then verify that it's the same information that shows up in your extensive background research.

If there are discrepancies make sure to ask the doctor about them and, if you can, double check with the reporting agency. There is nothing wrong with contacting a person listed on a background check for further information.

Remember, the doctor you choose to work with works for you - not the other way around. This person has been educated in fixing you and may be the best repair person in the world, but sometimes they just don't have the brains to talk civilly to their customers (patients). If you feel uncomfortable with a huge ego, find a different doctor.

By doing a doctors background check, you have many answers to your questions on paper, right in front of you. You can clearly differentiate between your candidates and make an informed decision.