Choosing a Holistic Gynecologist

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How Can I Find a Holistic Gynecologist?

Choosing a gynecologist in general is a very personal matter, choosing a holistic gynecologist can be even more difficult. It is always important to choose someone who you will be very comfortable with. Someone you trust and someone you feel is working for you and not against your individual needs. This doctor have a philosophy of practice that is not only very close to the way you want to be treated, but hopefully give you everything you want and need in a medical doctor.

For those women who live a holistic lifestyle or want a holistic gynecologist, finding a gynecologist who practices holistic medicine is extremely important. Having a clear idea of what you want and how you want to be treated, as well as plan outlining exactly what you want in a holistic gynecologist, can go a long way toward helping you find your ideal practitioner.

Where Do I Start?

While many women their start their search by looking in the Yellow Pages, this is not always an ideal way to find exactly what you are looking for. While it can happen, usually all you will get from the Yellow Pages is the name, address and phone number of a local doctor. Yellow Pages display ads may be a bit more helpful, but generally they tell you very little. Using the web can be very helpful because you can look up the key words "holistic gynecology" and this will usually lead you to those holistic practitioners who practice Holistic Gynecology.

How Else Can I Find a Holistic Gynecologist?

Talk with friends you respect and trust. Other holistic doctors and sometime health food stores, will have referrals.

When Seeking Referrals from Friends

Getting a referral from a friend is always a tricky matter. Here are some tips that might help you, save time and reduce effort:

Make a list of close friends and family members who also value holistic medicine.
Create a list of no more than ten of the most important questions you will want to ask in order to help you make a decision. Be sure to order your list and then ask those questions that will address your greatest concerns and needs.
Be sure that those friends you talk with have very similar needs and values as you have, otherwise you will waste a lot of time and effort, not to mention dollars later on.
Contact those you intend to talk with and ask them for information on any holistic doctors they are familiar with, even if the doctors are not gynecologists. If the doctor is a gynecologist, ask your friend or family member, if she would recommend this doctor and why.
After talking with your friends and family, contact the recommended holistic gynecologists and schedule a free "Get to Know the Doctor" consultation to interview him.

Visit a Health Food Store

Once again, create a list of no more than ten of the most important questions you will want to ask in order to help you make a decision. Be sure to list and then ask those questions that will address your greatest concerns and needs.
Go to one or more of your local health food store and talk with the person or persons who know the most about holistic medicine and what is going on in your community. Ask about recommendations for a local holistic practitioners. Ask about recommendations for a holistic gynecologist. Once again, ask very specific questions that will help focus your search for a holistic gynecologist.
If they can give you more than one name, ask which one their store clients, or they personally, most commonly recommend.
Contact the suggested doctors for a free "Get to Know the Doctor" consultation. Once again, be prepared with specific questions to ask the doctors in order to get the exact information you need.

Contact Other Holistic Doctors

Contact several of the non-gynecological holistic doctors whose names you have gathered from your friends and family or health food stores.
Ask each of these doctor’s if they currently recommend any holistic gynecologists in your area.
Contact the recommended holistic gynecologists and schedule a free "Get to Know the Doctor"consultation. Be prepared with no more than ten questions you want answers to in order to help you make your final decision.

About Free "Get to Know the Doctor" Consultation

Different doctors will handle this process differently. Some doctors will not do this at all and will insist that you will need to pay for any visit or time they spend meeting or talking with you. This is neither inappropriate, wrong nor a negative sign. Doctors make their living by talking with patients some are willing to give short periods of time away for free others are not. It means nothing bad about the doctor or the office if thy feel their time is valuable and they do not want to give their time away for free.
Other doctors will set aside varying amounts of time to meet and greet potential new patients.
When you first call the potential new doctor first ask if you can meet and talk with him or her to decide if they are the doctor you would like to work with and take care of you. Be sure that you ask if there is going to be a charge for the visit. If they say yes, but that there will be a charge, you can at this point ask, "Would it be possibly to just meet him (her), seethe office, and ask a few questions without there being a charge?" The answer will be Yes! or No! If yes, ask if there are nay specific rules you should know about.

Since there may be rules for this visit, you should know them. In our office we have four important rules:

Rule One: We will give any person 15 minutes to meet and question our doctors.

Rule Two: All questions must be about the doctors credentials, philosophy of practice, and ideals and goals for patient care.

Rule Three: The physician should not be asked any questions specific to or regarding diagnosis or treatment that might relate to the diagnosis or treatment of the individual’s condition. For example: If you have endometriosis you may ask how the doctor generally treat endometriosis? However, asking, " I have endometriosis what would you do for me? Is a question about your specific care and would be out of bounds as the doctor cannot reasonably tell you how he (she) would treat you without taking a complete medical history, performing a physical examination, reviewing prior medical records and establishing an exact diagnosis.

Rule Four: The meet and greet session ends at or prior to the 15 minutes allotted time. If questions goes 1 second more then the allotted 15 minutes, the prospective patient should be prepared to pay for an office visit.... regardless of whether they feel their questions have been answered or not. This is done, unfortunately, because people will often try to get a free visit wherein they want their questions answered, diagnoses made and treatment defined without paying for the doctors services. The goal of this "free visit" is to "get to know the doctor" not to start a professional relationship or start diagnosis and/or treatment. Often other patients are waiting for their turn to see the doctor, and going longer than the allotted time may impose upon them and take time away from working with them to solve their problems. It is important for all doctors to maintain a strict schedule. There are occasions when both the doctor and the patients agree that an office visit has been started and medical history, examination and treatment may be given, however, in these situations generally both have agreed that the "free visit" is over and a medical visit has started and the prospective patient is now a patients and a charge for the visit will be made accordingly.