What You Should Know About General Practitioners
You have always heard that what you eat has an impact on your health. This is true, but you also need to visit a personal or family general practitioner (GP). All visits are important, but the first one can be considered the most important.
Why Is the First Visit to Your General Practitioner (GP) the Most Important?
Generally, the first visit is where you get to know whether you have any underlying conditions. If you do, you get to create a treatment plan. If you don't have an underlying condition, the GP gives you a guide to healthy living.
It is essential to know that you don't have to be feeling ill to visit your general practitioner. Just like you take your child to see a paediatrician for growth monitoring and nutrition, you can visit the GP clinic for a full-body workup.
What Happens During the First Visit?
You get to discuss various things with the general practitioner. He or she may take your family medical history, ask whether you have any allergies, ask if you have ever had a symptom you were worried about but went away, ask about your sex life, etc. From this discussion, your general practitioner will know what tests to conduct and how to better advise you.
Choosing a General Practitioner
Ensure you choose a reputable and qualified practitioner. You might need to carry out some research on social media, review sites and forums. See what people say about different practitioners and their experiences. Ensure the practitioners you are considering have clinics near to where you work, live and spend most of your time. Remember a medical emergency can occur anytime and you want your doctor to be near. Visit those practitioners to get a feel of whether you are comfortable with them. You are looking for a GP who you feel comfortable talking and confiding in.
The next thing to consider is the services the general practitioner offers. You want a GP who has a wide area of specialisation to avoid getting referred many times. Referrals are not usually bad; they just mean that the current practitioner cannot treat a particular condition and wants you to receive the best care.
Can you reach your general practitioner 24/7? This is an important factor. He or she does not have to run the clinic 24/7 but should be reachable in case of anything.
Insurance
Medical procedures can be expensive, and that is why you apply for medical insurance. Ensure that the practitioner you choose accepts your insurance company.
