(Similar to If you Give a Mouse a Cookie…)
If you need to find a doctor,
You’ll call or text a friend.
While you’re talking to your friend, you’ll set up a lunch-date.
When you meet for lunch, you’ll think about your diet,
And you’ll ask your friend about her exercise plans and personal trainers.
When you get home, you’ll look the suggestions up online.
Online, you’ll look at reviews and look up locations.
While you’re reading reviews, you’ll think “I should ask my friends on Facebook.”
You’ll update your status on Facebook, and then you’ll have to scroll your feed and watch a couple of videos.
Thirty minutes will go by before you know it and you’ll need to pick up the kids from school.
While waiting on the kids, you’ll go back to surfing the dr reviews by your smart phone.
Your surfing is interrupted with “Mom!” and when you stretch out your arms for a hug, she sneezes on you.
As you offer a tissue for the sneeze, you realize she sounds a bit hoarse and has a slight cough,
The cough get progressively worse through the evening, and when you tuck her into bed, you notice she’s running a fever.
You give her tylenol for the fever, get her settled and then go back to Facebook to ask your friends what’s going ‘round.
While on Facebook, you’ll remember that you asked about doctors and check your notifications.
As you check your notifications, you’ll get distracted by some videos your friends shared,
While watching the video, your child will let out a cough which reminds you why you were online in the first place,
You’ll remember your lunch with your friend and look up the recommended doc again,
You’ll find the number on the website, and write it down to call in the morning.
Then you’ll go to bed to get the sleep you can, after all, every parent knows it will be a long night with a sick child.
Good thing you thought ahead to ask to find a doctor…
So, what do you look for when you are looking for a doctor? You do several things, first of which is start asking your friends, “Who do you see? Who do you recommend?” You’ll get several names and opinions and then you’ll research online and see what their ratings are. If you have insurance, you will find out if they are a participating doctor on your plan and if not, what the cost difference is. You will do a lot of research, but the guiding information is the word-of-mouth info you get from your family and friends.
I recently tried an experiment in which I asked my Facebook friends if they had a favored doctor. I didn’t specify children’s or women’s or general PCP. So of course I received feedback from all realms… even Veterinarians as some friends only have “fur-babies”. I was curious to see if any name would ring out again and again. And it did. Are YOU curious yet?
I received many comments from my “mom friends” about Dr. James Weston who is affiliated with Carilion New River Valley Medical Center and is an obstetrician-gynecologist. He is located at 2900 Lamb Circle, Suite 330 in Christiansburg, VA 24073. They all had great stories and fabulous reviews. Each one commented on how he actually cares about each patient. They reported that he makes each patient feel like she is his favorite. I heard a story of one woman who had been told she would never have children and she loved the fact that he never gave up on her. He would come in on a Saturday or a Sunday while she was trying artificial insemination. She said although the procedure never worked the six times she tried it, he refused to give up on her. She is now the mother of 4 boys!
From another mom, she reported how she had just switched to him when she became pregnant. It was one July 4th day when she began to have cramping and spotting. She called the hospital who then called Dr. Weston. She said he left his own family holiday celebration and showed up in sandals, tshirt and swim trunks to get her the tests she needed. In the end, the tests confirmed she had miscarried and when she heard the news, she began to cry uncontrollably and Dr. Weston stayed with her for several minutes to help console her loss.
I did my own check online to see what I could find. I found high ratings all around in the 4.5 to 5 star range. Dr. Weston received above average rankings in all experience categories such as:
- level of trust in provider’s decisions
- how well provider explains medical condition(s)
- spends appropriate time with patient
- listens to and answers questions
His office also rated highly on:
- ease of scheduling urgent appointments
- office environment, cleanliness, comfort, etc.
- staff friendliness and courteousness
- total wait time (waiting & exam rooms) – under 10 minutes.
So, if you’re looking for a doctor, you might call a friend.. but you might save some time by calling to check for an appointment with Dr. Weston for your obstetrician and gynecology needs.
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