How are you researching your surgeons qualifications

[lhaag]

We just had our initial appointment with the ortho team at Shriners this past Monday. Surgery has been the recommended course of treatment for our 14 teen year old daughter for a 70 degree kyphotic curvature. The recommendation is anterior and posterior fusion. We have been referred to and now have an appointment with the surgeon on 9/23.

In addition to researching the procedure and compiling my list of questions, I am also trying to research the doc. Of course I have specific questions for him regarding number of previous cases, etc, etc, etc but is there anything else that can be done?

I have been found a site with a little bio on him. He participated in a fellowship, holds 10 professional memberships (3 scoliosis specific, including the scoliosis research society), has hospital rights at Shriners and University California Medical Center at Davis, has published chapters in text books, etc,etc,etc.

BUT what does this all really mean? Any advice? Anyone know what it takes to work for Shriners (I've heard that they hire top level MD's but I dunno?) Thanks in advance for your input......Lisa

[flowerpower]

Hi Lisa,

There are websites such as healthgrades.com and such that rate doctors, hospitals, etc. There is a recent past article in Reader's Digest titled, "How Doctors find Doctors" and it lists several websites to check on these things. I know I have the article around here, as soon as I find it I will e-mail you the sites.

Renee

[flowerpower]

p.s. Also ask them for referrals from as many recent past patients as you can get that has had a surgery similar to the one your daughter will undergo.

[flowerpower]

p.s. again - don't be afraid to seek as many opinions as you feel you need to - you need to have the utmost faith in your surgeon and really be able to communicate with him/her.

[LindaRacine]

Hi Lisa...

You can purchase a HealthGrades report, although I believe that all that will tell you is whether he's had any complaints to the orthopaedics licensing board and perhaps whether he's lost any civil judgments. There are a lot of bad doctors out there who probably have perfectly clean reports.

Not all spine fellowships are created equal. In my opinion, the best fellowships are probably from UCSF, Hospital for Special Surgery, Washington University, & the University of Minnesota. Also, check to see whether the fellowship is a spine fellowship or general orthopaedics or pediatric orthopaedics.

The Scoliosis Research Society is the only professional organization for scoliosis specialists. There is some new organization that claims to be issuing certification in spine surgery, but it sounds like it's a pretty bogus certification.

In the long run, your best information will probably come from the patient community. Since it sounds like you're in Sacramento, contact Diane Gums (dgummer@comcast.net), who runs a scoliosis support group there.

Regards,
Linda

[lhaag]

Linda,

Thanks so much for the input. I just sent Diane an e-mail and am anxious to see what she has to say.

I did go back and pull up his bio. The fellowship was at Kenton D. Leatherman Spine Center and University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky.

Interesting on the scoliosis memberships as he has 3 listed. I wonder what the other 2 are? The following is a list of his memberships:

American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
American College of Surgeons
California Orthopaedic Association
Medical Advisory Board, Sacramento Valley Chapter
National Scoliosis Foundation
North American Spine Society
Paul R. Lipscomb Society
Scoliosis Association, Inc.
Scoliosis Research Society
Western Orthopaedic Association

Thank you again for your help. This whole thing is just so tough! Lisa

[lhaag]

I woke up to a reply from Diane regarding our daughters doctor. She states:

Dr. Gupta is world-renown. I would chose him in a heart-beat to do surgery on myself or my child.


She is an RN and says that she volunteers her time at Shriners, UCD and Kaiser so that when families ask her about the local spinal docs she can feel confindent about local referrals and information that she provides.

I feel so much better now knowing that our daughter is in great hands! Thank you all for you input and encouraging words.

[nikyergen]

Lisa,
I think you will find that the doctors at Shriners are incredible. They hire only the best, no second rate doc's for them. We use Shriners for all three of our daughters, all with scoliosis and/or kyphosis. Your child will always be their number one concern. We have told our daughters that if they ever break a bone that needs surgical repair, they are to be sent to Shriners if at all possible. We live in a small, podunk community, so the orthopedic surgeones here are non-existant.

The other side to Shriners, the men that do the fund raisers to support these hospitals only want the best doctors working at them. I am forunate, as we see the patient side of things and the fund raiser side of things. When my husband became a Shriner, I never thought that we would have to use the hospital for our children. We have one that recently had surgery, one in a brace, and one that is a wait-watch. I am glad to know that the money that is raised for this hospital is so carefully used. When you go for your appointment, as one of the Shriners that is there if they would have time to give you a tour of the hospital.

Just keep in mind that the Shriners only want the best doctors for the best patients in the world. By best patients, I mean all the wonderful children that are taken care of by these doctors every year.

We still have two surgeries to go on our oldest daughter, the one that had surgery already, but they aren't as high of a priority as her back was. She goes in mid-September to see if her back is healed well enough to warrant her surgeries on her feet yet.

Our decision wasn't difficult because we knew what Shriners was all about. So, I hope that this helps you feel more comfortable. Don't be upset though, if you are put on a surgery list and don't see the doctor again until the day before surgery. That is pretty normal procedure for as busy as they are. We get in to see the doctor pretty regular, at least one every three months, because we have three kids with scoli/kyphosis.

'til later,
Nikki