I don't know if it's the same in the U.S. but in Canada, going to a doctor for anything more than a head cold is a waste of time. All the doctor does is keep you sitting around in the waiting room for an hour only to be told that you need to see a specialist. Then you have to go through the whole process of making another appointment and sitting around in another waiting room.
Whenever I have something wrong that's going to need xrays or anything above getting my blood pressure taken, I make the appointment with the specialist to begin with and save myself a wasted trip.