[dbussone]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

Isn't today Wednesday????

That's when my week starts! What day does your week start on? When I retired someone told me all the days were the same here. And the only way you can tell Sunday is that the paper is thicker.

[emoji41]


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[dbussone]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

TY, GG. I think DB and I agree that it sometimes feels like an uphill battle to disseminate factual information to those with preconceived notions.

There aren't many hills in FL, but this one has a long upward slope.


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[dbussone]

Originally Posted by CFrance

It's even Thursday in Sydney...

That's my Tuesday! [emoji48]


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[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by dbussone

There aren't many hills in FL, but this one has a long upward slope.


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Actually, I feel like Sisyphus at times

[Dan9871]

Wasn't Sisyphus the original rock 'n roller? Or was that rollin' rocker?

[dbussone]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

Actually, I feel like Sisyphus at times

Kind of like a dung beetle?


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[graciegirl]

I like Dr. Agbo. He is board certified. And he is smart and kind too.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by Dan9871

Wasn't Sisyphus the original rock 'n roller? Or was that rollin' rocker?

Sisyphus was noted for being self-aggrandizing!

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by CFrance

Sisyphus was noted for being self-aggrandizing!

ouch! bad analogy on my part

[Mrs. Robinson]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

Oh, great---now I have to write a novel
I'll give you this: I should have added surgical skill to judgement, communication and compassion as items not tested in a board exam. Again, as I've already stated, board certification does not guarantee a good physician, but it sets a certain minimum standard of knowledge which is essential to becoming a good physician. Unfortunately, the bar keeps getting set lower and lower.

To sit for the board exam in Internal Medicine, first you have to be accepted into a medical school, then complete the requirements for graduation. You have to complete an accredited residency program, as well as pass parts 1,2, and 3 of the NBME (National Board of Medical Examiners), which is also the test requirement in 49/50 states for a license. You need a recommendation from your program director as to performance and character. Subspecialty boards also require the completion of an accredited fellowship program in that specialty. I believe surgical boards also require your procedure journal---a list of all surgeries that you performed or assisted at, and there are numerical requirements. One reason that foreign physicians tend to not be board certified is that they may have not completed an ACCREDITED residency. Does that answer you question?

As far as minimum standards go, I'm afraid they are declining. The year I applied to medical school, there were 126,000 individuals who graduated from AMERICAN universities competing for 17,000 seats. You would think that only the top candidates would be granted admission. WRONG, very wrong. I think the only institutions that are looking purely at merit are professional sports teams and Wall Street law firms. In 1980, I sat as a student representative on the admission committee at my medical school. There were over 11,000 applications for 224 seats, so again, you would think they would just pick the best of the best. WRONG. Even 37 years ago, one of the top priorities was to achieve "diversity" in the student body. As a result, frankly they admitted students who were lucky to graduate college. And so it starts. Then, to keep some of these less qualified students, they had the "6 year program"---they would repeat their first year, then get passed, repeat the second year, then get passed. By the time they hit the 3rd and 4th year, which is somewhat more subjective in grading and based on the opinion of supervising residents and attendings, no one had the guts to fail them. Now they had a MD degree! Sadly , it was no different at Harvard and Yale. The NBME is an easy exam, so now they could get a license. Beware! To make it worse, last year they changed the nature of the MCATs (Medical School Admission test). Believe it or not, they have de-emphasized knowledge of science and math, and instead are emphasizing "cultural awareness" What a joke. I want MY doctor to be aware of how the human body works, what goes wrong, and how to fix it. I couldn't care less about "cultural awareness", which is really nothing more than a way to justify certain student admissions.

By the way, have you ever sat on a medical school admission committee? Think hard. Also, if you don't believe that there is an art to medicine, think even harder.

Now, the Board exams are a much tougher test. Only about 65% of the candidates pass the test, so it ensures a much higher MINIMUM standard---no, not a great physician, but a high standard of minimal medical knowledge

Actually, DB is right and you are the one that should think hard. He was a hospital administrator and also worked with insurances, which means he had to vet physicians. I wouldn't have said your knowledge was "deficient", I think "incomplete" would have been a better term (or at least more polite)

Do you really think all physicians that complete a residency are created equal??? As chief of staff at our local hospital, I was one of the people who interviewed doctors who wanted staff privileges. BTW, have you ever had to interview physicians for a staff position? Don't bother, I already know the answer.

There was one OB-GYN that I interviewed that plopped an 80 page document on my desk at the interview. I asked what it was, and he replied "it's my business plan" OOPS, very wrong answer for me. I don't know how much time and effort he put into it, but it clearly showed me that his priority was not patient care, but dollars. He was accepted onto the staff despite my objections. One year later he was back at my desk as I fulfilled my legal obligation to revoke his surgical privileges. In the space of 8 months, he had transected 3 ureters during LAVH(Laparoscopic Assisted Vaginal Hysterectomy). The average for a GYN performing this procedure is 0.3 ureters transected in a 30 year career, and he had 10x as many in 8 months. So, I still agree, that board certification does not guarantee surgical skill.
So, no, a "test" did not make him better. But don't confuse a MINIMUM standard with achieving excellence either, but it isn't a bad starting point

Golfing Eagles -- Your post might be the best comment on TOTV that I have ever read!

Many of the things you said have not only enlightened me but educated me. It was even good reading! I never pretended to "know it all." Most of what I've said about being board certified I chalk up to logic and personal physician experience.
I still feel that just because a physician has that certification, it doesn't necessarily make him a good doctor. I believe you said the same thing but in a more informed dialogue.

I did have to laugh about the 80 page "business plan" but the rest of that story was horrible.

So again, thanks for your little novella. I look forward to more on, perhaps, another topic???

[Mrs. Robinson]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

If I were to leave this area for Cardiac expertise, I would go to the number one Cardiac hospital in the U.S.; The Cleveland Clinic.

Cleveland Clinic Ranks No. 1 in the Nation for Heart Care for 21 Consecutive Years – Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic

Plano is part of Baylor. EXCELLENT TOO. The Heart Hospital Baylor Plano

The Mayo Clinic is on a par with The Cleveland Clinic.
In comparison to the above, Baylor-Plano is pretty well down the list.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by Mrs. Robinson

The Mayo Clinic is on a par with The Cleveland Clinic.
In comparison to the above, Baylor-Plano is pretty well down the list.

Access Denied

You are right, I was thinking of the MD Anderson center for Cancer. BUT the Cleveland Clinic is the best heart hospital in U.S.

[spring_chicken]

Originally Posted by CFrance

I don't like it when people make passive-aggressive insinuations that could damage someone's reputation without supplying facts. Show me the facts. Name the doctor you're referring to.

The Dr. Martinez Cruz I go to has a clean, well-furnished office, a great staff, and the medical knowledge to early diagnose a strange condition in one of my relatives that saved him from extensive organ damage. He has worked at Mass General and seen everything that's come down the pike.

You just talked me into paying the $500/year to stay with him.

I don't like it either. Never understood some people's need to hijack and derail a thread so that they can insert slander and innuendo against someone they've probably never met.
The thread is about concierge medical care. Don't want it? Don't like it? Don't do it!

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by Mrs. Robinson

Golfing Eagles -- Your post might be the best comment on TOTV that I have ever read!

Many of the things you said have not only enlightened me but educated me. It was even good reading! I never pretended to "know it all." Most of what I've said about being board certified I chalk up to logic and personal physician experience.
I still feel that just because a physician has that certification, it doesn't necessarily make him a good doctor. I believe you said the same thing but in a more informed dialogue.

I did have to laugh about the 80 page "business plan" but the rest of that story was horrible.

So again, thanks for your little novella. I look forward to more on, perhaps, another topic???

Thank you, I feel that I have fulfilled my role as a patient educator and it makes all that typing worthwhile. You didn't know any of that "stuff" because you had no reason to know it. It would be no different for me in a discussion of electrical engineering with Village Thinker or waste management with Nucky.

Unfortunately, the 3 transected ureters was just the tip of the iceberg with this guy---but it was the thing I could hang him with since an unexpected bad surgical outcome is a state reportable incident. God only knows what he was doing to patients in his office, since I couldn't touch him there.

[Mrs. Robinson]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

Thank you, I feel that I have fulfilled my role as a patient educator and it makes all that typing worthwhile. You didn't know any of that "stuff" because you had no reason to know it. It would be no different for me in a discussion of electrical engineering with Village Thinker or waste management with Nucky.

Unfortunately, the 3 transected ureters was just the tip of the iceberg with this guy---but it was the thing I could hang him with since an unexpected bad surgical outcome is a state reportable incident. God only knows what he was doing to patients in his office, since I couldn't touch him there.

I will always thank someone who can educate me because I know I don't know everything! I don't mind being "bashed" when I am factually informed. It is when someone who can't spell, can't punctuate and doesn't know the essence of grammar, thinks they know a lot because they just looked it up, bashes me. I don't have the need to be "Miss Goody Two Shoes" and liked by everyone. Eventually, others see through that cloud.

By the way, did you ever think about Googling that person, since you do know his name. You might find some interesting reading material!

On a serious note -- thanks again!