going to new doctors suckFollow

I feel your pain, DSD.

I can usually count on seeing my Dr. at least 45 minutes after my scheduled appt time. Unless my appt is the first one of the day or the first one immediately following lunch. Then the delay is only 15-30 minutes. And I don't dare show up late, because the one time I ended up running late (I'd forgotten about the appt until about 5 minutes before I was supposed to be there) it turned out that he was actually running on time.

My consolation, however, is that once he's in the room, I can keep him there as long as I need to to get all the questions I have answered and all the information I need, thus making him late for future patients. I am reasonably assured that this thoroughness is the reason he's generally so late for my appts, and if he were punctual, I would probably not get as much time and information as I would prefer in my own appts.

I've actually been fairly lucky with Drs. My current general physician (the one discussed above) has a policy of scheduling a free "getting to know you" consultation so you can decide whether you like him, before you make the decision as to whether or not to choose him as your primary care provider. And my former OB-GYN had this wonderful custom of meeting with you before the exam, while you're still fully dressed and sitting on a chair rather than the examination table, so that it was much intimidating an environment in which to express any concerns, bring up any issues, and ask any questions. Then he'd leave the room for you to change and get up on the table for the exam. I was VERY upset when he was promoted to Chief of Women's Medicine at the hospital he was practicing out of and therefore stopped practicing.

My new OB-GYN, whom I've only met once so far, is from Jersey and has all the brusqueness characteristic of such origins, so I'm not really sure I like her. When Ambrya 2.0 goes from the planning to the development stage, once I'm reasonably confident things are going to run smoothly, I will be seeking most of my care from a midwife rather than an OB and delivering in a birthing center rather than a hospital, because I really can't handle the "you want fries with that kid?" attitude of the medical establishment toward pregnancy and delivery.

Good luck establishing your relationship with your new Dr.

New doctor or new barber = fubar.