What Kind Of Expert Does One Need To See When Ill Or In Doubt?

Sparkle · Oct 14, 2016

This topic has been in my mind forever. Its been a constant debate specially in the past few years with the rise in illnesses and new additions to medications, lifestyle changes and such. It also inspired partly from the discussion in thread: Depression - myth, reality, or a little of both?.

So what kind of medical expert do you see when you are ill or when you suspect the possibility of an illness. Wikipedia lists an extensive list of healthcare professions here: List of healthcare occupations - Wikipedia and here List of mental health occupations - Wikipedia .

So how does you choose the right medical professional to deal with the problem?

Note: To anyone interested, it will be nice to gain basic insight about other occupations and fields also. Say a thread about law/lawyers, basic rights, how cases are dealt with, what kind of lawyer to approach and so on.

Sparkle · Oct 14, 2016

- The first, easiest and most common step in selecting the right professional is to go to a general physician. Based on the guidance from general physician, visit a doctor / therapist.

There are some straight forwards and most used terminology of medical professions. A few samples...
Ophthalmologist - for anything related to the eyes and vision
ENT specialist - Ear, Nose, Throat related, self-explanatory
Dentist - For your teeth
Cardiologist - Heart related issues

A person getting regular eye checkups/prescription glasses or someone getting their teeth checked often can skip the first step. Being aware to a certain extent always helps narrow down the process.

- Understanding the differences in terminology

Samples:

There are doctors and there are doctors who are surgeons.
A neurologist treats disorders of nervous system, can suggest surgery but will not perform surgery
A neurosurgeon is a doctor who is specialised in surgical treatments relevant to the nervous system
Visiting a surgeon on the first attempt is very rare, it will be referred almost always after a long step of tests and procedures.

Doctors vs therapists.
A doctor is a person qualified to treat a person medically.
A person specialised in a specific kind of therapy. This person may or may not be a doctor. Most places do not allow therapists to write prescriptions.
One would think a doctor and therapist work together, but often that is not the case. A doctor can refer a patient to a certain therapy. A therapist can refer a someone to a doctor who is specialised in a certain field of medicine.

- Being consistent with a doctor
Gone are the days when we all had a family doctor. But if we find a good medical professional, its important to visit the same doctor and maintain the medical history. This will help the professionals and the patients identify and attack the problem together.

rai · Oct 14, 2016

useful thread! Can help us to ponder over & help allay our fears & doubts.

vaidehi71 · Oct 15, 2016

Sparkle said: ↑

So what kind of medical expert do you see when you are ill or when you suspect the possibility of an illness.
Click to expand...

Depends on which part of the world you live!
If abroad, in some countries you cannot see any specialist without referral by the family physician. Unless warranted urgently you can't see them, as you would not get appointments so easily. So it depends on the illness. Not all one lid fits all.
I am not sure about what you expected here. Just wrote my opinion on what I thought. Yes, agree that specialist meant for different fields are all for that field alone. Just a google would suffice to find out whom to see.

Vaikuntha · Oct 15, 2016

It depends on the kind of health insurance one has. In some cases we need referral and in other we don't, we can make appointments.

One of my wise friends used to say, do not go to doctor if you don't have to. Has to be avoided.

I try to have female doctors for myself and pediatrician. Even in India, I saw that female doctors listen more than the senior male doctors.

Indian doctors have no respect for patients, in US too, they are above all. I do not like this attitude of physicians. But what can be done, we need doctors.

Sparkle · Oct 15, 2016

vaidehi71 said: ↑

Depends on which part of the world you live!
If abroad, in some countries you cannot see any specialist without referral by the family physician. Unless warranted urgently you can't see them, as you would not get appointments so easily. So it depends on the illness. Not all one lid fits all.
I am not sure about what you expected here. Just wrote my opinion on what I thought. Yes, agree that specialist meant for different fields are all for that field alone. Just a google would suffice to find out whom to see.
Click to expand...

I agree the process is different in different places. It also depends on the illness. Serious illnesses call for a series of referrals.

My expectation is to help narrow down the complex process. Googling would be helpful for finding an expert for a straight forward problem. There are peculiar cases which have no guidance at all. Will write about it in a separate post.

Sparkle · Oct 15, 2016

hermitcrab said: ↑

It depends on the kind of health insurance one has. In some cases we need referral and in other we don't, we can make appointments.

One of my wise friends used to say, do not go to doctor if you don't have to. Has to be avoided.

I try to have female doctors for myself and pediatrician. Even in India, I saw that female doctors listen more than the senior male doctors.

Indian doctors have no respect for patients, in US too, they are above all. I do not like this attitude of physicians. But what can be done, we need doctors.
Click to expand...

Very true, avoid going to a doctor if its not needed. Health insurance plays a role in selecting a doctor too.