Need a great doctor - STAT!

March 23, 2010 8:44 AM

I've got issues - big complicated medical issues. Help me find a primary care doctor in Kansas City. (TMI lurks within.)

I have good insurance and need a new doctor. The problem is that I'm every physician's nightmare. Autoimmunity, depression, intractable girl-problems, hideous nightsweats - I've got 'em. These problems aren't just difficult for me, they probably drive doctors nuts, too.

Recently, my primary care doctor of more than 10 years moved her practice. Even before she'd left, she'd stopped seeing me; I always got shunted off to her nurse practitioner. I got a recommendation from an OBGYN for a new doctor, Dr. N, and am not having a good experience. Dr. N would like me to stop my depression meds, for one, and told me that getting laid more often would solve half my problems. Which might be fine advice except that sex is excrutiatingly painful, which is one of those intractable girl-problems that I'm having. Dr. N seems to think that it's just psychological, but oh man is it ever not. All of this isn't helping with the depression at all.

So, do you know of any internal medicine or general practice doctors who are up for a real challenge? Someone who won't just give up on me?

posted by anonymous to Health & Fitness (2 answers total)

KU Med Center often seems to have more expertise/resources to tackle difficult areas, than do other practices--at least in my experience.

Also they typically have a 'student doctor' who is in fact a fairly experienced MD working on a specialty. They come in and interview you before the KU faculty person comes in. This often works well to your advantage because they will spend more time with you and you can bring up any areas of interest or concern. Often the student doc will then broach a particular issue with the faculty doc, if the student doc doesn't know the answer. And then you benefit from the interaction between the student & faculty doc--they seem more willing to spend a bit of time talking about things because now they are educating two people at once.

Worth a try, anyway. http://www.kumed.com/
posted by flug at 10:20 AM on March 23, 2010

I can't offer you one on your area, but it sounds like you need to change OBGYNs and find one who doesn't dismiss you, and get a separate psychiatrist for your depression meds.

FWIW my friend sees a psychiatrist and a pain management doctor. Not so long ago that pain doctor took her off one of her anti-depressants and put her on a different one. The psychiatrist was furious and said that it borders on unethical to change a patient's meds that another doctor prescribes, without consulting the other doctor first. So I wouldn't let Dr. N. change your meds.
posted by IndigoRain at 9:55 PM on March 23, 2010