Finding A Doctor
Edition: 2023-03-17
This is a serious matter, so much so that the book
Undoctored devotes an entire chapter to it
(Ch.4 Any Doctors in Undoctored?).
Top recommendation: adopt a lifestyle that minimizes the need
for interaction with the sick care system, particularly
if you are subject to universal healthcare regimentation and rationing.
If that doesn’t cover it, well, that’s what this page is for.
Can anyone recommend a doctor near Grover’s Mill?
Start with the Infinite Health ⎆Practitioner Experience.
If that doesn’t cover it…
This question frequently arises when people get frustrated with what
passes for the Standard of Care in consensus medicine:
mis-testing,
mis-diagnosis, and
mis-treatment,
for both common and uncommon situations, resulting in no
progress and often adverse side effects (which are themselves
subject to more of the same).
Your current doctor ⎆may
be just as much a victim as you are in this, but that’s little
consolation. A new provider is indicated, and at the moment is not
that easy to find.
What is needed is at least an open-minded physician, if not an
outright dissident doctor. They are not yet common, but they do exist.
They have the same problem that their rebel patients have: they know
or suspect that medical dogma is materially mistaken on a number of
key topics, but there is as yet no settled alternative with
which to align. If they’ve chosen a new dogma to be militant about,
that’s apt to be just as much a problem as a consensus doc.
Consequently, some vetting and screening is often in order.
Note: this page is focused on the U.S., but the general tips
apply anywhere.
⟲
Identifying Candidates
If your principal issue is a single ailment, chances are you’ve
already scoured the websites and forums devoted to it. If not,
asking there, the opening question here, is certainly worth a try.
A general web search on the ailment, or on indications of
diet-awareness are also worthwhile. Searching on
“doctor” and keywords like
“low-carb”, “grain-free”,
“gluten-free” or even “paleo”
can get some hits.
Functional Medicine (FM) practitioners represent a subset of MDs
that have a higher than average chance of being both aware of the
limitations of consensus dogma, and being aware of results-oriented
alternatives. The Institute for Functional Medicine has a finder
feature on their website:
IFM: ⎆Find
a Functional Medicine Practitioner
Osteopaths (DOs) are often worth considering, as Osteopathic is
inherently a dissident branch of medicine. This doesn’t mean their
theory is correct, but they are less likely to be card-carrying
AMA disciples.
⟲
If you have a local compounding pharmacy, they
may have tips on which independent-minded local doctors
use compounding, and might thus might be worth a look.
At any pharmacy, ask the pharmacist (not the techs or clerks) which area
doctors prescribe natural desiccated thyroid (NDT).
You may not need NDT, but a doctor open-minded about it
is apt to be supportive on other issues as well.
If you know anyone seeing a chiropractor, or other
healthcare provider who cannot write prescriptions, they’ll
usually have a relationship with one or more
open-minded local MDs.
Holistic and Integrative might be keywords to look for,
but both are sufficiently
vague that some cross-checking is required. There is an ⎆ABIHM finder and
an ⎆integrative finder.
The Stop The Thyroid Madness
site suggests this additional
finder: ⎆American
Academy of Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine (A4M).
Some additional finders:
KetoNutriton.org (Dom D’Agostino): ⎆Doctors,
Clinics & Nutrition Consultants
Ketogenic.com (Ryan Lowrey): ⎆Doctor Finder
LifeExtension: ⎆Innovative
Doctors and Health Practitioners
For cardiovascular and lipidemia conditions specifically, the
American Board of Clinical Lipidology has a ⎆finder page,
with considerable risk of encountering eminence-based dogma.
Personally, I would put Naturopaths low on the list. The odds are
higher of running into advocacy of ⎆fringe
theory that is not results-focused.
Homeopaths would not be on my list at all.
⟲ Have Desired Labs in Mind
Before contacting a practice, make sure you know what you want.
Have a list of desired tests in mind. See the forum article
with a list of ⎆Program Marker Targets.
Keep in mind that
depending on where you live, and budget, you might just
⎆get
some of them run yourself.
⟲ Pre-Screening Candidates
For each candidate physician or practice identified:
- Check for a website associated with the practice.
These often contain material that recommends the
doctor, or might be revealing of someone to avoid.
Things to look for are mission statements, dietary
advice, lists of labs used, policy pages, hospital
affiliations, and perhaps
what insurance they accept.
- Search the web generally on the physician name and/or
practice. Those with highly satisfied (and highly
unsatisfied) clients tend to precipitate comments on
forums. You might also find publications by them, links
with associations and events, and in rare cases, legal
or administrative actions.
- ⎆RateMDs.com
might be worth a look. There are any number of similar
sites, but beware that a lot of them are either outright
shams, or semi-legit, but with skewed results due to
sham rating stuffing.
- Contact the practice to see if they are accepting
new patients, and if so, if they need a referral
to accept you. Let them know that you have some
specific tests you’d like run, and ask if there is
a way to send it ahead of time. You can use this
question:
“I have a list of labs that I’d like
run, in addition to any you might suggest, is there
any way I can send it to you to save some time?”
- Here’s another time-saver:
Can you tell me in general terms what sort of
diet the doctor recommends?
If you intend to avoid vegetarian or vegan doctors,
the code words to be alert for are "plant based".
⟲
Interviewing Candidates
None of the above investigation may be of any assurance
that the dissident doctor you locate will have any awareness
of Infinite Health, Undoctored, Wheat Belly (much less Cureality
or Track Your Plaque), or if they do,
that their approach will be fully consistent with it.
So it’s worthwhile to have some screening questions prepared
when you contact the practice.
Diplomacy is required. An enlightened practitioner
will actually welcome clients actively engaged in their own
healthcare, but others may take umbrage if they sense that
they are being interviewed for a job (which, let’s be clear,
is exactly what you are doing). The Undoctored
book has some specific advice on this on pages 72 and 73.
If, from preliminary investigation, you already know the answer
to any of the questions suggested here, don’t ask them.
The list of tests you are asking for is itself a pre-qualifier.
I have actually had a GP tell me that on two of them, he had
never ordered them before and wouldn’t know how to interpret them.
He was at least willing to refer me to someone who would.
This is a useful general question:
“I’m looking for a provider who is supportive of clients
doing self-directed healthcare. Would that describe your practice?”
On thyroid specifically, this one can be useful:
“Although it might not be indicated in my case, do you
ever prescribe T3 or compounds containing T3?”
On cardio and lipidemia, you could ask:
“Do you ever order coronary calcium scans?”
“What do you recommend for slowing, arresting and
reversing calcium scores?”
⟲
Self-Help
Although this topic is worth considering early in the process,
if you fall out the bottom of the above advice with no suitable
doctor, you may end up here anyway.
Depending on what state you live in (i.e. not California,
Maryland or New York), you may be able to order many tests yourself
(to run at home), or at least use a walk-in on-demand lab.
If you live in a nanny state, your choices may be severely
limited.
An astonishing selection of home health test kits and devices
are routinely available. Some are immediate result, and others
mail-away. Appendix D of
Undoctored is devoted to this topic.
Some of these products might be less expensive than your co-pay, and
will be certainly less expensive if you can’t get them covered
by insurance, or need frequent follow-ups.
___________
Bob Niland [⎆disclosures] [⎆topics] [⎆abbreviations]
Tags: doctor,finding,locate,locating