Finding a primary care

Since I'm about to see a potential new primary care doctor tomorrow, and since I'm (um...) picky, I was doing some quick research on how to get the most out of a first appointment. I've had some bad experiences, mostly from trying to get by with a doctor who is not a good match for me, so I wanted to see how other people (professional and not) go about making this decision. Putting it in terms of good and bad "matches" sort of makes me feel like I'm going on a blind date. Which is a little odd.

Below are some selected sites which seemed to offer some sound sugggestions on finding and choosing a primary care doctor.

From In My Humble Opinion: "...A bunch of advice on picking and interacting with primary care doctors. Subtitled…Things I wish my patients knew"

From the Georgia state medical board: "Tips on Choosing a Doctor"

From Scripps Health: "Choosing a Doctor Who's Right for You: Communication is the Key"


As is noted in the Scripps Health article, some of the qualifications/education/training info you might want to know can be found on hospital websites. E.g., I live in CT. The big hospitals closest to me are Hartford Hospital, St. Francis, and the UConn Medical Center. There are also a few smaller community hospitals nearby, two of which are in the same "health network".

Each of these hospitals and/or health networks maintains a website which you can usually find relatively easily by doing an internet search for that hospital. I've found that often the search results include results for physician directories or "find a physician" pages offered through the hospital website.