That's quite interesting, my pediatrician "kicked me out" as soon as I turned 18, by moving my file to a randomly chosen adult general practitioner, and when I came because of flu a few weeks after my birthday (I was born in January), I was told to go to "doctor XYZ" at "clinic ABC" and that my "file was no longer here". Was a tiny bit "abrupt", that doctor treated me since I was born. She was very good, is the medical chief of the whole clinic. Worse is that I automatically lost parents' insurance which is provided until age 18, but hadn't started college yet, so I was a few months without insurance. This is not USA, of course.
Is it common to only ever be treated by one doctor? I've never seen the same doctor more than once, I just book an NHS GP appointment and they give me whoever's available that day.
I thought it was how it generally worked? I mean not in the UK, but AFAIK in Eastern Europe everyone has a chosen doctor and unless the doctor is unavailable AND it's a medical emergency, when you can go to any doctor, you usually go to your own doctor. If your doctor isn't available at the moment and it's not an extreme medical emergency, you're told to come back tomorrow or whenever.
In the U.S., if you're lucky enough to have decent health care, you will usually see a general physician of your choice regularly. The idea is that your doctor over time understands your medical history, lifestyle, etc. better than a doctor seeing you for the first time. Ideally, you develop trust and follow your doctor's advice, and maybe your doctor notices changes in your health in time to prevent the worst of an illness.
People will also develop regular relationships with specialists if they need them for a chronic condition or something like that.
This is my experience as well in the UK. I don't remember ever seeing the same doctor more than once.
I do however have the same dentist each time. I'm not sure I've benefitted from that in any way, he probably sees thousands of patients each year and he doesn't appear to remember anything about me or recognise me (not that he would have any reason to, I don't have any oral conditions)
Maybe that depends how busy the doctors are, and how flexible you are.
I always had the same doctor as a child in the UK (1990s, in a village), then one at university, and then one when I moved after getting a job in London.
I had a pediatrician until I was 18 or 19. I remember that my mother came with me I went to him for a final check-up close to my 18 or 19 years old birthday (along with my 1-2 years old niece lol) as he would not take me anymore afterward. It was a bit odd, especially because it had been a couple of years since I had last been to him, but I enjoyed seeing that his office stayed the very same (very sterile, yet stuffed with of cute teddybears and toys) ever since I remember it.
However, whenever I had a medical emergency, I'd just go to one of the best hospitals around (the one I was born at), not to him. After a certain age, I would go to him mostly for regular check-ups.
Well for me in the UK they usually ask if I want to see my "usual" doctor or if I don't care. There is sometimes a longer wait to see my usual one. Usually I want to see the same doctor for an ongoing condition but don't much care if it's something new.
On Spain you would register on the nearest (or more convenient) health center and you would choose a doctor (if you had a preference. If not, you let them choose one with a free slot for you). From then on, you would always visit the same doctor, unless he/she moves to a different doctor.
When visiting the specialist, that might be a bit different, but usually, during the treatment of certain illness, you would visit always the same specialist for the whole treatment.
Which makes sense, generally if the doctor is doing their job well seeing the same person should result in better outcomes because they can build a longer and more in depth understanding of your life and conditions. On the other hand seeing a new doctor could be good for getting a lot of perspectives on your condition more easily than seeing one doctor normally and deciding to see another for an explicit second opinion. Hard to guess which will win out better, seems like it would depend drastically on the doctors you're seeing and the problems you have..
Everyone in the US seems to act like it's normal. (Every hospital records an individuals "Primary Care Physician", for example, as if that was a real thing that actually exists for people).
But in practice, I've never seen anyone whose life was (A) wealthy enough and (B) consistent enough, to regularly see the same doctor for more than a few years at a time. People move, people change jobs (which changes insurance, which changes allowed medical networks), and so on.
I don't doubt it happens, it just certainly doesn't feel like the common case, even in the US.
In Italy General Practitioners visit from their local offices, or they can come to your home if you can't move for any reason. When you're 14 you just go to a local SSN (our NHS) office and you pick one who is convenient for you and still has available spots, and then you simply go to his or her office during visit times. Having a doctor who you know is constantly there, knows you and your medical history is quite nice, so much that you often have to wait a long time because old folks tend to go to their office just to chat, so I guess they tend to also be an impromptu psychological service for those who need support. Obviously the other side of the coin is that your doctor may have way too many people assigned to his practice, and seeing him means waiting for hours in its waiting room, which is for some simply not feasible.
When it's late, or an holiday, and your doctor is not in its office, you can go to a local walk in clinic ("Guardia medica") if you need a doctor but it's not an emergency (the hospital's ER is free only for actual medical emergencies).
I did the same thing until I graduated college. My pediatrician was an excellent doctor, and the regular primary care physicians in the area weren't all that great.
There's a reason the pediatrician was excellent - they were a specialist, trained to deal with difficult, unpredictable patients (babies). They were also likely getting paid more for their time than a normal PCP, which might explain why you felt all the doctors in the area were subpar.
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[ 1.6 ms ] story [ 45.7 ms ] threadPeople will also develop regular relationships with specialists if they need them for a chronic condition or something like that.
I do however have the same dentist each time. I'm not sure I've benefitted from that in any way, he probably sees thousands of patients each year and he doesn't appear to remember anything about me or recognise me (not that he would have any reason to, I don't have any oral conditions)
I always had the same doctor as a child in the UK (1990s, in a village), then one at university, and then one when I moved after getting a job in London.
However, whenever I had a medical emergency, I'd just go to one of the best hospitals around (the one I was born at), not to him. After a certain age, I would go to him mostly for regular check-ups.
When visiting the specialist, that might be a bit different, but usually, during the treatment of certain illness, you would visit always the same specialist for the whole treatment.
But in practice, I've never seen anyone whose life was (A) wealthy enough and (B) consistent enough, to regularly see the same doctor for more than a few years at a time. People move, people change jobs (which changes insurance, which changes allowed medical networks), and so on.
I don't doubt it happens, it just certainly doesn't feel like the common case, even in the US.
When it's late, or an holiday, and your doctor is not in its office, you can go to a local walk in clinic ("Guardia medica") if you need a doctor but it's not an emergency (the hospital's ER is free only for actual medical emergencies).