Finding doctors in NYC

November 2, 2008 12:48 PM

What's the best way to find doctors in NYC?

I have a couple of non-urgent but nagging health concerns I'd finally like to see a doctor for. I don't have have a PCP at the moment (I'm a bit too old--22--to see my pediatrician, and I had my college's health center to use for the last couple of years, so I never really bothered having anyone at home). I'm looking specifically for a dermatologist, an ENT, an ob/gyn, and I guess I should probably find a GP, too (even though I will probably end up using the ob/gyn as my PCP). I do see a psychiatrist and a neurologist on a (semi) regular basis, but it seems kind of random to get recommendations/referrals from completely unrelated fields of medicine, if they even do that kind of thing.

What I've been doing so far is cross-referencing my insurance company's list of in-network providers with NY Magazine's Best Doctors list from this year and come up with a couple of overlaps, but that seems like an arbitrary way to do things. I've seen RateMDs.com but there's very little useful information on there. Getting recommendations from friends has been pretty unsuccessful.

So...anyone have a dermatologist/ENT/ob-gyn/GP in the Manhattan/Brooklyn area that's really fabulous they'd like to recommend? Advice for improving my doctor search? How did you end up with your doctor? Should I get a GP first and let them take care of the referrals?

posted by cosmic osmo to health & fitness (8 comments total)

Why not ask your pediatrician for a GP recommendation? Pediatricians must deal with a hundred patients aging out every year.
posted by booksandlibretti at 1:00 PM on November 2, 2008

GP: Dr. Greg Pitaro
Derm: Dr. Thomas Meola
I've seen both for years and they're great. Located in the same building on 34th st.
See: Murray Hill Medical Group - http://www.mhmg.net/
posted by blaneyphoto at 1:22 PM on November 2, 2008

ob-gyn: Ginger Gillespie

I also use her as my GP - she's great. Thoughtful, patient and really willing to listen to you and work with you to make the right decisions. She's at the East 13th Street Family Practice.
posted by amandarose at 2:18 PM on November 2, 2008

booksandlibretti: my pediatrician retired a few years ago to the best of my knowledge. Not to mention he was super old school and referred me to a few duds in my time as his patient. I guess his office could still make recommendations?

jonmc: thanks, that's super helpful!
posted by cosmic osmo at 2:48 PM on November 2, 2008

I've generally found livejournal communities to be pretty helpful for this kind of thing. I've found great doctors/practices in both LA and Seattle this way. If the NYC lj community has a memory list, there will almost certainly be several questions about various kinds of doctors in there.
posted by fuzzbean at 3:32 PM on November 2, 2008

obgyn: Downtown Women. No specific recommendation, I've seen an NP and PA there that were great.
posted by unknowncommand at 8:54 PM on November 2, 2008

ob-gyn: Ginger Gillespie

I also use her as my GP - she's great. Thoughtful, patient and really willing to listen to you and work with you to make the right decisions. She's at the East 13th Street Family Practice.

Dr. Ruth Lesnewski, who is the OTHER main practicioner at this same practice, is my GP and is also really great. So calling East 13th Street works no matter who you end up with, in my opinion. (Even the second-string guy I saw as a walk-in patient once when I had a wicked fever this summer, the adorably named "Dr. Teets," was also good -- he had a great attitude, he called me personally to follow up on my test results rather than getting a nurse to do it, he was just great all around.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:00 AM on November 3, 2008

I like my primary care physician, Dr. Anne Crennesse a lot. She is based in Brooklyn Heights and takes almost all insurance. She's a Family Practice specialist so she also does basic gyn exams. She's easy to talk to, listens to me, and will explain her differential diagnosis so that I can understand why she came to a particular conclusion. I've never had to wait more than 30 min to see her, and she even has morning walk in hours before noon for acute care.
posted by abirae at 12:57 PM on November 8, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]