The chance that you'll see the same health care professional at age fifty that you saw at age twenty is very low. With the ever-changing parade of health care workers we see over the course of our lives, it's easy to think of them as interchangeable cogs in the vast machine of our professional health care maintenance. But that's a dangerous attitude to have toward the people responsible for helping you live a long, healthy life.

Your Changing Needs

Your choice of a health care professional must always meet certain qualifications in training and ability. But when you're approaching menopause, you require some special qualities in a health care provider. If you have been a passive patient up to this point, now's the time to get involved in ensuring your good health throughout menopause — and beyond.

Does Your Provider Understand Your Menopause?

During perimenopause and menopause, your health care needs differ from those when you were younger. You may need diagnosis and treatment of emotional as well as physical symptoms. And you certainly will need the medical advice of someone who is up-to-date on medical advancements in menopause symptoms and treatment, knowledgeable about a range of treatment options, and willing and able to discuss those options with you. Even if you've been pretty casual about health care during your twenties, thirties, and early forties, your health care actions and choices now can determine the quality of the rest of your life.

You may have a great health care provider right now, or you may want to begin your search for the doctor who's right for you. In either case, now is the time to evaluate what you want and need in a health care provider and to make sure that you have the man or woman who fulfills that role.