Researching a physician, any suggestions?

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tombaak High Desert, NV(Zone 5a) Aug 24, 2005

My insurance co. approved surgery for me today , it is a surgery done by a plastic surgeon and i have heard such bad things about them lately. Now that the surgery has been approved, i am freaking out. I live in a smallish area. I just went to the surgeon that my doctor sent me to in town, now i wonder if i should travel (1 hour) to a larger city to see a doctor who might do more of these surgeries. How do i check if the doctor i'm being sent to is good? Who do i ask?

Any advice would be much appreciated.
Melissa

This message was edited Aug 24, 2005 6:37 PM

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razzie Prospect Park, PA(Zone 7a) Aug 24, 2005

Ask a nurse who works in the hospital. If she doesn't know, she'll know who will.

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Frankay Northport, ME(Zone 5b) Aug 25, 2005

Call the State Board of Medicine in your state. See if the surgeon is Board Certified, and a Member of the American College of Surgeons. You can also call the ACS directly. Ask the hospital some informational questions where he has privileges...where he was educated, how long in practice. Also, ask if he has any patients that would be willing to share experences with you...you would be suprised; happy patients are a great resource. Les

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salvia_lover Modi'in, Israel Aug 25, 2005

Another question to ask is how much experience this surgeon has with this particular surgery. Our daughter had to have surgery with a plastic surgeon when she was a year old. Lots of surgeons were more than willing to do the surgery - claiming it was an outpatient procedure, no big deal, etc etc. None of them had ANY experience with this type of surgery as it is quite rare. We weren't willing to let our daughter be practice material for them especially with their carefree attitude towards a surgery that (when done by an experienced surgeon) was definitely a very big deal requiring at least one day in intensive care afterwards and at least 3 days in hospital after that. In the end we travelled quite a distance to get to a surgeon who actually cost less than many of the others, but who has more experience than anyone else in the world with this type of surgery. He is a caring person and an excellent surgeon.....whose ego doesn't need boosting by a padded wallet. So experience doesn't need to mean "more expensive". Experience, not just in the field of plastic surgery, but in the particular surgery you will be going through is VERY important. If the surgeon you are going to doesn't have experience, s/he must at the very least be willing to consult surgeons who do have the experience.

-Julie

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