Quote:
Originally Posted by biker1
This is a very strange question (highlighted below). I would actually prefer Moffitt and I am actually going there. They are a bit over an hour away and are ranked #6 in the US, which is better than Roswell Park. I do not have a good handle on exactly what factors go into the rankings but at some point you are choosing the actual Drs you feel comfortable with and not so much the institution. If you have some specific information to share as to why someone should go to NY then please do so. I could have also chosen U of Florida/Shands or Mayo (and have actually been to both for other issues and the outcomes were fantastic).
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Not a strange question at all. The statement was in response to the post that claimed health care "here" (I assume Central Florida) was better than "there" (Western NY). It was not a suggestion to travel 1200 miles and bypass Moffit when you live here. I wouldn't either, since the difference in most of the top places is the furniture in the waiting room, not the quality of care.
Beware "rankings", they mean very little. The individual oncologist you work
with is far more important than the building they work
in. Sloan is always ranked very high, but having done several months of rotations there, you couldn't pay me to be a patient there. They have good and not so good oncologists, like everywhere. But they also make you sign a document that you agree to any experimental treatment protocol they choose. That's great for a stage 4 rhabdomyosarcoma, but not so good for a stage 4 Hodgkin's, where the current
CURE rate is about 99%
Also beware of a "name". I hope no one believes that Mayo clinic in Jacksonville (or Phoenix for that matter) is the same as Minnesota, or that MD Anderson in Orlando is identical to Houston. The best example of this is Joselin Clinic, located near Beth Israel in Boston and acknowledged as the world leader in diabetic care. However, about 20 years ago they "franchised" out their name and protocols so there are now "Joselin Clinics" all over the place. Usually these franchises were gobbled up by endocrinologists that weren't making out so well, aka "B players". Not all, but a fair share.