Take an Active Role in Choosing Your Specialist

If the average person went and out and bought a brand new Ferrari, the chances that they would take it Wal-Mart for service are pretty slim. More likely, they would recoil in horror at the thought that anyone other than a Ferrari expert would touch their baby.

And yet, that same person will, in all likelihood, toddle meekly off to see whichever specialist their Family Physician refers them to, without doing any research into whether the doctor they're about to see really specializes in their condition.

Some orthopedic surgeons deal primarily with knees, while others are experts at shoulders, or hips.

Some Rheumatologists specialize in osteo-arthritis, while others specialize in Rheumatoid arthritis, and still others in AS, Psoriatic or Crohn's Disease.

This became evident to me when I met my first rheumatologist, and I realized that he knew next to nothing about my condition. He dealt mostly with osteo-arthritis. The problem became abundantly clear when I went looking for his replacement. I downloaded a list of rheumatologists in my area, and I called almost all of them. I asked each receptionist I spoke to how many patients they had with Ankylosing Spondylitis. Most of them answered "2 or 3" or "a few". When I got to the one where the answer was "about 80% of our patients have AS" I knew that I had found the doctor I wanted, and I asked my GP to set up a referral. I have been very happy with how it turned out. I receive good care from someone who really knows her stuff.

This isn't a criticism of doctors. Your specialist can't know everything within his or her specialty, nor can your family doctor know what sub-specialty every specialist might be most experienced, or interested, in.

Patients owe it to themselves to invest a little time and effort in their own treatment. It starts with asking their doctor, when a referral is being made, "Is this the right specialist for my condition?" If the doctor doesn't know, or seems unsure, the patient owes it to themselves to make an effort to find out. It only takes a few phone calls, and it seems like the right thing to do.

After all, they'd do it for their car.