For most non-medical people, the idea of visiting the doctor is a scary one. It generally taps into fears of the unknown, of death and of fear of hospitals. But doctors are here to help, they are trained to heal and to nurture and they are people you should seek out rather than avoid. Build relationships with them and visit them as often as is needed. The more familiar that a doctor is with your particular needs and conditions, the more effectively he or she will be able to treat you. Some doctors are more critical in this area than others. Here is a quick list of the key doctors with whom you should be building long-term relationships.

The female health doctor

Because getting naked and having your private parts examined is quite an uncomfortable experience, it is important that you build a relationship with a gynaecologist that you trust and with whom you can feel relaxed. Speak to your friends for recommendations on who they see or go online and search for something like ‘gynaecologist Melbourne’ to find somebody close to you. But find somebody and, if it feels right, stick with them. Make sure that you visit as often as they tell you to and that they stay properly abreast of your health status and concerns. Remember, you might not have an emergencies or major concerns, but at some stage you will – and if you don’t have a pre-existing relationship with a doctor you might find it very hard to get an appointment at short notice.

Your General Practitioner

This is your go-to guy, the doctor who you call on when you are just feel under the weather, when somebody in your family is sick or when you can’t quite put a finger on what the problem is. The GP is an health expert in a wide range of medical issues. And while he might not be able to fix everything, he will make a diagnosis and he will be able to refer you to a specialist if he thinks that further treatment is necessary. For example, he might detect something like cancer. While he could identify it, he won’t treat it, he will refer you to an oncologist who is the specialist who would tackle the disease.

Dermatologist

If you live in an area where there is a lot of sun and you find yourself being exposed to it regularly, particularly if you have a pale skin, then you need to make the dermatologist your friend, look after your health. A dermatologist is a skin doctor. For many years they treated things like acne and rashes and such like, but in more recent times they have been at the forefront of tackling sun damage and skin cancer. They will map your moles and make sure that you are not carrying nasty, sun-effected conditions. If you have a family history of cancer and if you are in the sun a lot, make the dermatologist your friend. It is worth noting that visits to the dermatologist tend to be non-invasive, quick and easy to undergo. There really is no excuse for avoiding them.