In search of a good doctor

In her column for the New York Times, Pauline W. Chen, MD, provides advice for patients on researching doctors and diseases. Chen said she contacted several colleagues for the advice, and they urged patients to find out which doctors their closest friends really like, to ask a prospective doctor questions like how much experience he or she has with a specific condition or operation, and to make sure that as a patient they feel part of a shared decision-making process and comfortable saying how they feel, or that they do not understand.