Hi Vitality:

At my last house I had a neighbor that was a doctor.  So when I needed a doctor 
I would consult him, not for my problem, but for a doctor's name.  So if  you 
know someone who works in the medical field they may be a big help.  This 
almost always was a specialist rather than a "family" doctor.  The specialists 
work in hospitals and their mistakes are noted, the big mistakes become part of 
their record.  A good hospital will kick out really bad doctors.  So just 
knowing the names of doctors that practice at a high end hospital is a good 
recomendation.  Sort of like the sport of going to your local court house and 
watching the show in any court room and/or checking the names on the daily 
calendar.

Lacking an "inside" source the next proiority would be to avoid the hacks.
Doctors in the U.S. are licenced by each state.  And it's a matter of public 
rerord if they have had legal problems.  For example for California:
http://www.medbd.ca.gov/Lookup.htm

By the way you can lookup all the other licensed occupations from accounts to 
vocational nurses:
http://www2.dca.ca.gov/pls/wllpub/wllquery$.startup

If you have medical insurance then you need to learn their rules.  But remember 
you can always go outside your insurance system and I recommend you do that to 
get a second opinion whenever you don't like the opinion/diagnosis you got. 
Notice I said "don't like" not "don't trust".

-- 
Have Fun,

Brooke Clarke
http://www.PRC68.com
http://www.precisionclock.com

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