All doctors are not equal so what should you look for to find the best doctor for you?

Good Standing with the AMA – It’s easy to go to the American Medical Association and do a search by name or by specialty to find out if the doctor that you are considering is in good standing.  The site will also give you his hospital affiliation, his education background, and his or her residency training. Here is the link to the AMA’s website: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/patients/patients.shtml  Click on the You and Your Doctor tab, and then Is your Doctor a Member.

Board Certified – The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), is a not-for-profit organization, that assists 24 approved medical specialty boards in the development and use of standards in the evaluation and certification of physicians.  Board Certified physicians make a commitment to keep current in their area of specialty. With the rapid changes in the medical profession it is critical the your physician be Board Certified.  Here is a link to the ABMS site where you can learn more: www.abms.org/

Peer Recognition – The best source of a medical referral is the physicians peer group.  The Best of the US is a website that recognizes the best in ten professions, including doctors.  They search the medical field for those physicians are in good standing with the AMA, are Board Certified, have been recognized as leaders in their field, and in many case the teachers of their area of specialty.  Physicians can also become listed by being nominated for inclusion by other physicians.  Here is a link to the Best of the US site: http://www.BestofUS.com.

Search the Internet – The internet will tell you everything you need to know about the physicians that you are considering.  If he or she has written books, papers, or articles you’ll find it on the internet.  If he or she is or has been sued you’ll find it her.  If he or she has been recognized as one of the best of class you’ll find it here.

In many cases the best is not the guy with the big office and the large staffs with years experience but instead the hard worker with the most current education and information.

Having spent my career in the world of finance it became evident to me that continuing education was as important as years of experience. As we have seen in the past year investment derivatives has drastically changed the world of investments. If your broker was not well schooled and well read you sat with him or her and saw your portfolio shrink on a daily basis while being advised that our banking system is strong and this down turn will not last.

Yet if your advisor had read The Trillion Dollar Meltdown by Charles R. Morris published February, 2008, he could have given you a day by day description of what was going to happen to the investment markets over the following months. Since then the S&P 500 has lost over 35% of it value, City Group has gone from $29.00 to $4.00 per share and AIG has gone from $56.00 per share to $1.00 per share. You and your investment advisor would have understood Credit Default Swaps and how they compounded the problems of the Sub-Prime mess. You could have chosen not to participate in the past years crises.

Thankfully I did read Charles Morris’s book but got caught by a series of unqualified and uneducated doctor’s years earlier resulting in the amputation of my daughters left foot because for fifteen years her doctors misdiagnosed a cancerous tumor in her foot.

The lesson to be learned is to research your professional advice providers. Do they have professional designations, are they in good standing with their professional organizations, do they teach within their profession? In short are they current with the latest information within their field?

I was motivated by my daughter’s question: “Dad why did this happen to me, I’m a good person?” Since my retirement in June 2004 I have worked to find reason for what happened to her. I designed and built a website BestofUS in an effort to help other people avoid the mistake that we made and give some level of guidance on where to look for the best professional in the United States.

We as consumers have to take on some level responsibility for our health, our wealth, and our wellbeing. If we don’t we will continue to be victims.