GREENSBORO, N.C. — Greensboro police put a man behind bars for allegedly pretending to be a doctor. They say 46-year-old Charles Golden provided treatment and procedures for erectile dysfunction without a license. He was arrested at New Pinnacle Health Group on Friendly Avenue.
The investigation is still ongoing, but it made us wonder, how do you make sure your doctor is actually a doctor?
According to a representative from the North Carolina Medical board, they've made verifying that information pretty easy.
They're encouraging consumers to check with their website to see if a doctor is real.
They have a database of just about every medical doctor in the state. The search tool will show their name their license and if that license is active or inactive. So here's what you need to do if you want to verify your doctor:
- Make sure you have their correct name and the letters behind their name. Grabbing their business card is the best.
- Next, google those letters. MDs (Doctors of Medicine) and DOs (Doctors of Osteopathic medicine.) will be in this database.
- Search for them in the database. If they're in it, there's a feature where you can see what kinds of disciplinary action has been taken against that doctor. Check that to see what may have happened in the past.
Now there are a few exceptions like podiatrists. They're licensed through the state board of podiatry which you can access by clicking here.
For the state medical board's search engine click here.
North Carolina's board of dental examiners has a similar feature. We've got an article on it below.
You can see if your dentist has any outstanding disciplinary actions online. On the state dental board's website you'll click on the "license verification" tab. Type your dentists' name and you can see if they're in good standing, on probation, or have any disciplinary actions. Hopefully that helps you pick the right dentist.
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