How do you find a doctor?

[JJSCOTT2]

2nd post with doctor in the title of the day.

So I haven't been to a regular doctor for a physical or anything like that in about 10 years since I was required to in order to enter high school. So the last doctor I would have been to is my old pediatrician 1000 miles away.

First of all, I don't even know where to start when looking for a doctor, searches of yellow pages etc. turn up hundreds of doctors and its hard to sort through general practice vs. different specialties etc. Second of all, lets assume I don't know anyone who can refer me to a doctor. Additionally, how would you even know if a doctor was "good", I mean I don't want to just pick a name at random and end up with some hack that went to med school in Bangladesh or something but I'm not sure there is such thing as doctor "reviews", I mean, how would to people going to the doctor know whether their doctor is better or worse than any other doctor...they have no frame of reference.

Point being. I don't have a doctor. I need one. Don't know how to choose one.

[bkholdem]

I go online at my insurance site blue cross and do a search.

my criteria were someone older, someone who graduated from Harvard Med School or another top school and someone near me.

There are online services that you can pay a small fee to check to see if the doctor has had complaints filed against htem as well.

Do you have insurance?

[JJSCOTT2]

Yeah BCBS, thanks, I didn't even think of that.

[T-Rod]

[JJSCOTT2]

Thanks for the replies, I just moved recently to a new area so more or less all my friends and family have doctors in different locations than where I am. I took bk's advice and looked up doctors through BCBS and then ran a bunch of names through some doctor database websites to figure out their backgrounds and specialties and stuff and I think I have a decent list now.