If you need a doctor and don’t have one—whether it’s for a routine checkup or a life-threatening disease—where would you start to look? Sure, you might solicit opinions from friends and family, but would you really leave this decision up to crowdsourcing? That’s why, for our 17th annual report on the Puget Sound area’s most trusted physicians, we went straight to the experts—with the help of health care research firm Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.—and asked Seattle-area doctors to recommend their peers.

But this year, we also stepped behind the medical curtain and the doctors, profiled in more depth on the following pages, to tell us what they think patients should look for in a physician. You’ll notice a common theme in their responses. It turns out that communication is really important. So, when you find that new doctor—or have an appointment with the one you already see—be sure to talk to them, and listen (and if they’re worth their Top Docs weight, they will, too). Communication may not cure all that ails you, but it’s a good place to start.

Top Doctors Index

Addiction Psychiatry           
Adolescent Medicine           
Allergy & Immunology           
Cancer Specialties           
Cardiac Electrophysiology           
Cardiovascular Disease           
Child & Adolescent Psychiatry       
Clinical Genetics           
Colon & Rectal Surgery           
Dermatology               
Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics      
Diagnostic Radiology           
Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism      
Family Medicine          
Gastroenterology          
Geriatric Medicine          
Geriatric Psychiatry          
Gynecologic Oncology           
Hand Surgery           
Hematology              
Hospice & Palliative Medicine      
Infectious Disease           
Internal Medicine          
Interventional Cardiology           
Maternal & Fetal Medicine           
Medical Oncology           
Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine      
Nephrology              
Neurological Surgery           
Neurology              
Neuroradiology           
Nuclear Medicine           
Obstetrics & Gynecology          
Ophthalmology           
Orthopedic Surgery           
Otolaryngology           
Pain Medicine           
Pathology               
Pediatric Allergy & Immunology       
Pediatric Cardiology           
Pediatric Endocrinology           
Pediatric Gastroenterology           
Pediatric Hematology-Oncology       
Pediatric Infectious Disease       
Pediatric Nephrology           
Pediatric Neurology           
Pediatric Otolaryngology           
Pediatric Pulmonology           
Pediatric Rheumatology           
Pediatric Surgery           
Pediatric Urology           
Pediatrics               
Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation       
Plastic Surgery           
Psychiatry               
Pulmonary Disease           
Radiation Oncology           
Reproductive Endocrinology       
Rheumatology           
Sleep Medicine
Sports Medicine           
Surgery               
Thoracic & Cardiac Surgery       
Urogynecology/Female Pelvic Medicine    
Urology               
Vascular & Interventional Radiology       
Vascular Surgery