Hi!

I've been dragging my feet some, not wanting to make a decision.

I've gotten a referral to visit with a dietitian / nutritionist to help with weight vs eating habits with the addition of how they relate to my metabolic issues due to PCOS.

So, the decision is which doctor to see...

Does anyone have any experience with these doctors (in Basel)? All three are noted as speaking English (as well as French and Italian in addition to their German) but I want to know more about each before calling any.

Maja Eichenberger on Blauenstrasse

Katharina Stebler-Probst on Schäferweg

Hanneke van der Werf Dinten on Mühlenberg


Also, is it a "normal" thing here to allow for a "get to know you" type consultation before committing to a particular doctor? I don't want to throw away a referral on a doctor that I don't get along with.

Do you think a forum like this is a good place to discuss professional practices of three doctors who are (one can assume) each well respected in their field?

Would you like if such a discussion about your work was going on on a public forum?

Perhaps you have a suggestion for a better way to find out personal opinions from patients of these doctors?

How would YOU select a doctor from a list, none of which being doctors with whom you or anyone you personally know has previous experience?

Perhaps 'waste' a consultation and go optimistically and assume good faith? Perhaps the Doc won't be so bad. You can always later change.

There's nothing wrong with soliciting opinions about doctors.

PegA, you're worried about wasting a referral. As far as I know, you can make an appointment with a specialist without any referral from a GP. Is that what you were worried about?

I wouldn't consider a personal opinion on a professional practitioner on a public forum of any constructive use. Destructive, perhaps yes, for their reputation.
Quite surprised at a moderator supporting the idea too.

I would go by instinct pick a doc try a visit and if you aren't happy pick another at random... until you are happy. No other way.

No doctor/dentist/baker/shoemaker would be still in biz if nobody liked them, surely?

To tell the truth, the mods locked it initially...

Perhaps I was wrong in thinking that people have a modicum of decency to offer opinions which would be helpful to me (and others) while maintaining tact with regards to the doctor's professional reputation.

That's what I get for thinking good things about folks in general though, eh?

Not true. Can't stand the doctor I found, but others seem to love her.

Well thats your personal opinion. I guess there's nothing wrong for seeking people's opinion about a professional practitioner. If the person is not satisfied with the opinions posted on a public forum, they can always choose to get more details from the person giving the opinion using PM.Quite a lot of people rely on this as you can see from the threads below.
Wanted English speaking Primary Care in Baden

Looking for a good English speaking doctor in the Baden, Wettingen, Endingen area

English-speaking Dermatologist in Zurich??

Can a moderator not have an opinion different from yours?

Again your way of picking up a doc. May have worked for you, could have not worked for some others.

The OP could still follow the above approach with the docs for whom he/she gets a positive response from the forum.

Agreed, however choosing a doctor/dentist/baker/shoemaker is a personal choice as well. So doesn't mean a doctor you don't like is disliked by all. May be all the people that you have come in contact with dislike the service, however there can always be others who are satisfied with the service.

Sweetie I have the info on a great dieteitian recommended to me by my GP. She is so good you have to wait a while though, will PM contact details...

Not really, but then again it is your opinion. I think what one person might find great another one might find awful...If not my GP back in the Netherlands would have gone bankrupt...hate him

Isn't that exactly what I am saying?
It's just one thing to ask for recommendations another to put up a list and invite opinions on those only?

coolcd- Can and obviously do!

The request for opinions on those "only" is because those are the "only" ones on my longer list who are both within "familiar"(ish) areas to me AND speak English.


I suppose I could have asked a more vague "does anyone know a good dietitian / nutritionist who is known to be familiar with PCOS patients AND speaks English in the Basel area?" ... would that have made you happier? It is the sort of question that others have asked before, and gotten answers to WITHOUT the hassle you are wanting to give me.

I figured it was much more simple to cut out the ones that are already "known" to miss out on critical criteria for me - English speaking.

In terms of the principle raised here, it seems in England the NHS is now inviting patients to rate their doctors online and comments will be available for the public to read:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/20...or-nhs-choices

I think everyone has to decide for themselves when they meet a doctor if they are comfortable, but I see no harm in asking the opinions of others or experiences of others. For example, I know of a doctor who can speak English but he prefers not to. I told a client to request a different doctor. The clinic where he works told my client that doctor speaks English. "It won't be a problem" they told her. So what do you think happened at the appointment? The doctor tells her he doesn't speak English very well and gives her a lecture on learning German. Not what she needed. I didn't harm his medical reputation in any way.

This is becoming commonplace in many countries now. In Australia, I used to google doctors before deciding to go to them (in the case of specialists, this was crucial, since access there is only by referral by a GP; I'd need to ask the GP for another referral if I felt in any way apprehensive about the specialist as a result of my "investigations").

Ditto in the US; opinions about any professional can be found online, it seems.

In my view, selecting the right doctor is somewhat more important than choosing a baker or shoemaker; my life could quite literally be at stake. In that instance, I'd rather even out the information asymmetry as much as I can to facilitate informed decision-making, don't you think?

Doctors supply a service; they're not gods, nor above public assessment. I welcome transparency and hope that more people will be inclined to share information about their experiences with the medical profession. It keeps doctors accountable.

My view only, as a member of this Forum. My previous post (and this one) should not be taken to reflect the views or policies of English Forum. I don't believe that EF has any policy proscribing the solicitation of opinions on doctors. Libellous or actionable statements, of course, will not be tolerated though. If you think anything you have to say is controversial, communicate it to the poster privately.

The baker or shoemaker comment was intended with irony as I'm sure you understood.
Precisely because it's your health that is at stake I believe it is important to look them in the eye and see how you feel about them.
I chose a doc here at random for myself when I had to, but knew once I met him he was "the one" for me. I was proved right, thank goodness.
I chose another one for my partner from a list because he spoke English but I did not like him at all "on sight".
He, however, chose to persevere with him despite many differences of opinion between them as well as problems to communicate in any of the languages they had in common, but that was his choice to make.Luckily there were no disasters as there may easily have been in those circumstances.
I would have changed-I do not consider anyone to be godlike- far from it I am hyper critical, if anything.