How 'Top Doctors' are chosen

Is there a doctor in the house? Plenty of them. And good ones, too. This new Newsday site helps Long Island consumers choose physicians in a variety of medical specialties.

Click here to see the Top Doctors

There are 800 MDs in Nassau and Suffolk identified as top doctors by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd., a Manhattan publisher of consumer guides to doctors across the country. Consumers can also search the site for an additional 4,600 top docs from throughout the tri-state area and across the country, at places like the Cleveland Clinic and Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore.

Doctors do not and cannot pay to be selected as a Castle Connolly doctor.

The company begins its evaluation process by inviting a pool of randomly selected board-certified physicians to nominate other doctors in various specialties and subspecialties on a regional and national basis. Hospital officials are also invited to nominate. Additionally, phone interviews are conducted with leading medical experts to verify the accuracy of the information-gathering process.

Doctors selected for this list are asked to submit biographical information. Castle Connolly considers various factors, including excellence in academic medicine and research, education, superior patient care, disciplinary history, professional reputation and board certification; it also verifies credentials.

The list aims to reflect a reasonable balance of medical specialties and hospitals within Nassau and Suffolk counties.

Newsday is not involved in the selection of top doctors.