Finding a Good Doctor in Texas

Did you know you can easily research your doctor before you ever become a patient or, as I did, several years later from the comfort of your own home?

The Texas Board of Medical Examiners website www.tsbme.state.tx.us maintains a database of licensed physicians, physician assistants and acupuncturists.

You can enter as little information as your doctor’s name & city and be presented with a wealth of facts and figures.

The Board does not verify all of the data displayed. The Texas Medical Board obtains verification of the following information: identity and age, medical school education, examination scores, professional training and ability and professional character.

On the first page, it shows the physician’s name, license number, degree, specialty and the address of his or her practice. After clicking on their name, you’ll see gender, year of birth, issuance date of license and expiration date of annual registration permit. That lets me know that at least for now all is well with my doctor’s license status.

Even more interesting, a little further down is the disciplinary status. I was happy to see NONE in that spot. The primary type of practice is listed and if reported by the physician, a secondary practice area. My doctor’s primary practice area is Family Practice and he did not report a secondary practice. Next, the physician reports how many years he has practiced medicine in the United States or Canada and then how many in Texas. I see he has actively practiced medicine for 16 years with 13 of those being in Texas. I’m feeling pretty good about this guy.

The medical education is then listed: what medical school the doctor graduated from and when. This information is verified by the Texas Medical Board. The physician can then add more information to his medical education profile. For instance, my doctor reports he also graduated from the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine.