Doctor Questioin

[Mary Jo]

Hello,

I deleted my original message so the posts that follow don't make a lot of sense. I did a bit of research on the doctors available to me at Froedtert and Medical College and am a bit confused. Well, not really confused but it all seems maybe too obvious to me and maybe I'm not understanding it all as well as I should.

The doctor that will be replacing my oncologist is an internal medicine doctor and assistant professor of medicine. According to his bio on the Froedtert website his care emphasis is "in-patient med" and he is not board certified. The other 2 doctors that were not offered to me but may be who I switch too are both board certified, both have their top care emphasis as breast cancer, one trained at Baylor and MD Anderson and the other is a 2006/2007 Best Doctors by his peers. Seems like a no brainer to me that it should be the latter 2 as my choice.

I do have an e-mail out to my uncle who is a hospital administrator and has ways of getting this type of information and tomorrow I will be calling my nurse practitioner to question her about this. I kind of feel as if I was given the "short straw" as I am an early stager with NED and all my current oncologists stage 3 and 4 patients will be referred to the latter two docs.

Does board certification mean a better doctor? I "asked jeeves" about this and the answer wasn't very definitive. It pretty much said that board certification can be a bit deceiving. ?????

Thanks,

Mary Jo

[Sheila]

Mary JO

I would think word of mouth from other patients...you could also do a search at the hospital he is affiliated with. By the way, I have alot of family in Wauwatosa...my Dad's brother is big in the historical society there...all 8 of their kids went to Wauwatosa Schools, they have lived there most of their lives...last name Brown.

[Mary Jo]

Sheila,

Thank you. I don't live in Wauwatosa. I live in Sheboygan, Wisconsin but chose my surgery and oncology care at Froedtert and Medical College in Milwaukee Wisconsin but located in the suburb of Wauwatosa.

From what I hear from others Dr. Charlson sounds good. I have an e-mail sent to my uncle though who is a hospital administrator nearer to my home. His hospital and mine are affiliated in some ways so he will probably be able to help me with my request.

Thanks again,

Mary Jo

[Christine]

Mary Jo,

Do a Google search putting the doctors name in quotation marks.
example: "Albert Einstein". You will then get all of the references to that particular doctor on the internet. He may have published papers or received awards. They will all be listed.

Be careful as other doctors may have the same name.

Also do alternative searches. Dr. Paul H Harris may also be DR. P H Harris or Paul Harris MD

It may be time consuming but your life depends on it.

Hugs
Christine

[StillHere]

Marejo
I live in Milwaukee (Greendale). I would love to meet you for lunch sometime when you are in town for a doc visit. I work 2nd shift so breakfast or lunch would work for me. I don't always check my email or this site. I seem to go in spurts depending on my mood like tonight I can't fall asleep - so here I am. Pls give me a call at 414-421-6783 if you have time to meet. Peace
Karen Schneck

[Sheila]

MaryJo
Bought my husbands bike at Route 41 Harley Davidson...in Sheboygan...love their little restaurant there, I used to stop there ofter when I worked at Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant and lived in Manitowac.

[Mary Jo]

Oh Sheila - how cool is that. That's where my husband bought his bike too. He has a 100th anniversary edition Dyna Lowrider. See, we have wayyyyyyyyyy more in common than a cancer diagnosis.http://her2support.org/vbulletin/images/icons/icon7.gif

Thanks for your help also Sheila, Christine and Karen. It is appreciated.

Love & hugs. Make it a great day.

Mary Jo

[Joy]

you raised and I wish I had a good answer. I'll be curious to find out this stuff as well. And you are so smart to be so proactive in finding the right person rather than just taking whomever is assigned to you. You ROCK.

My family used to vaction in Michigan quite a bit (I'm from Northern Illinois). It is a really beautiful state and how I miss the Great Lakes and the green. I still chuckle at what people call lakes in Colorado. The same with the leaf changes in the fall. Everyone races to the mountains to see the leaves turn, well, yellow. But, the Rockies have their own beauty and our wildflowers are great.