Is "Board Certified" A Guarantee Of Anything?

[Riv]

The doctor i went to was board certified, he was a diplomate (whatever that means) and he was President of something or other and ran the sleep center where I did my first titrations (without and then with mask) but he was a nasty person with an arrogant attitude although I noted that he knew how to come across impressive towards the people that counted for him.

I went to a different doctor after I got fed up, this one it turns out doesn't seem to care either and isn't board certified but at least she's polite.

The first doctor is board certified, he's a big man in the field but I get the feeling he knows more how to look like an expert than actully be an expert....................In short, I think he's a get over artist who wanted to go where the money was and was willing to do whatever work was needed only in order to become a leader in the field due to a need to be admired and a need to make as much as he can make....................He's a throughly unpleasant phony in my view and I could be wrong and it could be that he personally didn't like me but I don't think that was the reason, in my view he didn't like that I asked the tough questions and he took me as someone who could see through him and since he did have something to hide (he had more ignorance about sleep apnea than an expert should have and his dishonesty) his way out from a patient who cared about therapy, who saw that some of what he said to me didn't add up, was for him to pour out so much of his obnoxiousness so that I would wind up "firing" him as my doctor.

What kind of board certified doctor tells his patient that "no pap gives you a daily breakdown report of your nightly apneas" when the patient asks him for that kind of machine after he reads about the existance of such paps on a sleep apnea forum? And what kind of board certified doctor gets angry at the patient for making such a request? questions his nerve for making such a request? tells him not to believe apnea patients from on-line "chatrooms" and scornfully says "I'm a doctor, who are you going to believe? Them or me?"

Just one example of many from supposedly one of the "best" and "most qualified"..........liars or unqualified overachievers I guess.

I think very few sleep apnea doctors (whether board certified or veteran doctors or newcomers who aren't board certified) are as nasty, as uncaring, as threatened by questions from concerned patients as that guy is. I've never seen a doctor and very few professionals in any field as insecure, as phony, as pompous, as ready to fly off the handle as that guy.

[junie]

That's terrible that no matter doctor or not treat people like that I wouldn't put up with that, Next time I go to my sleep Dr. I'm going to look and see what kind of Dr. he is I really don't know, Good luck to who ever you pick hope they will care

[Riv]

Judy,

I don't think what kind of doctor he is, is what matters. I think what matters is how honest he is, how much he knows, how hard he works for you, how dedicated he is towards the patient as opposed to how dedicated he is to power in his field and to making as much money as he can and of course if he answers your questions with respect.

I'm sure your doctor is a much better one than my ex doctor is because I can't see anyone with a lower standard than his.

And this is a board certified apnea doctor.

[Slinky]

Pardon my giggling. Been there, done that! As you've experienced Board Certified doesn't guarantee diddley-squat. Certainly NOT in the sleep medicine area! In all fairness, you can't expect a sleep doctor to be intimately familiar w/every brand and model of xPAP available and all their many "comfort options". On the other hand, those sleep "doctors" who just out of hand pooh-pooh the data capability of these fully data capable xPAPs are egotistical, insecure bores. Of course, these fully data capable xPAPs aren't as thorough, accurate and revealing as a full in-lab PSG w/a good RPSGT. But they sure are the next best thing! And any sleep "doctor" too pompous and/or insecure to acknowledge that in a politic way is an a$$. (And the dollar signs were intentional!) I was recently at Mayo Clinic's sleep center and given my previous experience in several other departments at Mayo I was SHOCKED by the less-than-Mayo-quality sleep doctor I encountered. He was one who went into a long discourse on why the data from these fully data capable xPAPs is unreliable. Snort! There's more, but suffice it to say the man was a disgrace to the Mayo tradition and quality of care. He was less than truthful in his dictation of our consult, claiming credit for considerably more time spent in consultation w/him and his RT than ever occurred, etc. I barely saw his RT who I "would" have liked the opportunity to talk to!!!

[The Texan]

Slinky, I hope you took the time to set down and write a report of your visit and discourse with the Doctor at Mayo, then send a copy of that report to their compliance Dept. These so called Doctors will never have any bedside manners or be compassionate with patients until they realize we are going to file a report of their actions or lack of action, with every visit.

[SharkBait]

What kind of board certified doctor tells his patient that "no pap gives you a daily breakdown report of your nightly apneas" when the patient asks him for that kind of machine after he reads about the existance of such paps on a sleep apnea forum? And what kind of board certified doctor gets angry at the patient for making such a request? questions his nerve for making such a request? tells him not to believe apnea patients from on-line "chatrooms" and scornfully says "I'm a doctor, who are you going to believe? Them or me?"

I love dealing with these kinds of people. Guess where I would be headed with my first daily breakdown report of nightly apneas? I wouldn't oversell it; I'd just tell him that obviously he was ignorant in his own field and I was happy to educate him.

[Slinky]

That's the thing. I've been going to Mayo since I was 16 w/family or finally for myself. Mayo has always stressed "bedside manner" and has had doctors outstanding in that area as well as their medical area of expertise which is what made this sleep "doctor" such a shock! I think I insulted him right off the back when he lit into his tirade on fully data capable xPAPs when I was trying to ask about a problem I was having. I told him I didn't expect that a sleep doctor could be familiar w/every "comfort option" on every brand and model and that probably my questions could be better answered by the RT and RPSGT. I mean I did say that tactfully. I think. I tried to anyway. He refused as they weren't "medical professionals". I even stopped in at the Patient Advocate office to see if I could speak to an RT or RPSGT. The sleep doctor blocked all attempts. There's more I'm not free to devulge. He's refused release of my titration results other than a script, one paragraph of dictation, one page printout and the tech's handritten notes. He will allow release of further information only to a certified sleep doctor of my choice.

[Arizona-Willie]

Several years ago I had cataract surgery at Mayo's.

Mayo's has always been outstanding in my experience with them.

That time, however, I drew an Indian doctor and he seemed ok in the pre-surgery interviews etc. although he did come across somewhat arrogant.

During the surgery I woke up and my eye was hurting and I remember saying " Ow that hurts " several times and hearing the doc argue with ( I guess the anesthesiologist ) telling someone I < couldn't > be feeling it, etc. etc. Well, unfortunately, that eye didn't turn out as good as the other eye and has given me some < minor > problems. And I had to have a laser blow a hole in a film that developed. Overall, probably as good a job as what many people experience but not up to what I expected from Mayo doctors.

When I returned to get the other eye done a month later .... that doctor was no longer with Mayo.

I was given another Indian doctor but this one had a quite different manner and did an excellent job on the other eye.

I didn't wake up during the operation that time

Like any organization ... Mayo can get a bad apple now and then despite their screening processes.

But they don't last long.

When I asked what happened to the first eye doc, they didn't < say > they had fired him ... only that he had joined a private practice in Minnesota.

I can't imagine a doctor from a temperate country like India ... voluntarily leaving a prestigious position at Mayo in beautiful sunny, warm Arizona to go to blizzard bound Minnesota.

[Arizona-Willie]

My sleep doc is also Board Certified and a Diplomate in Sleep Medicine etc. etc.

But very different from yours.

Mine listens and talks with you and is quite willing to write a script for the machine of my choice.

Usually being Board Certified etc. does mean a certain level of expertise. But expertise doesn't necessarily equate to being good.

Unfortunately, too many doctors in specialties also own labs and clinics and supply houses for the diseases / conditions they specialize in.
Too many doctors are there to maximize their income. Patients are last on their order of priorities.

It should be illegal for a doctor to own a company that sells supplies related to his specialty or a lab that does the tests.

The doctor i went to was board certified, he was a diplomate (whatever that means) and he was President of something or other and ran the sleep center where I did my first titrations (without and then with mask) but he was a nasty person with an arrogant attitude although I noted that he knew how to come across impressive towards the people that counted for him.

I went to a different doctor after I got fed up, this one it turns out doesn't seem to care either and isn't board certified but at least she's polite.

The first doctor is board certified, he's a big man in the field but I get the feeling he knows more how to look like an expert than actully be an expert....................In short, I think he's a get over artist who wanted to go where the money was and was willing to do whatever work was needed only in order to become a leader in the field due to a need to be admired and a need to make as much as he can make....................He's a throughly unpleasant phony in my view and I could be wrong and it could be that he personally didn't like me but I don't think that was the reason, in my view he didn't like that I asked the tough questions and he took me as someone who could see through him and since he did have something to hide (he had more ignorance about sleep apnea than an expert should have and his dishonesty) his way out from a patient who cared about therapy, who saw that some of what he said to me didn't add up, was for him to pour out so much of his obnoxiousness so that I would wind up "firing" him as my doctor.

What kind of board certified doctor tells his patient that "no pap gives you a daily breakdown report of your nightly apneas" when the patient asks him for that kind of machine after he reads about the existance of such paps on a sleep apnea forum? And what kind of board certified doctor gets angry at the patient for making such a request? questions his nerve for making such a request? tells him not to believe apnea patients from on-line "chatrooms" and scornfully says "I'm a doctor, who are you going to believe? Them or me?"

Just one example of many from supposedly one of the "best" and "most qualified"..........liars or unqualified overachievers I guess.

I think very few sleep apnea doctors (whether board certified or veteran doctors or newcomers who aren't board certified) are as nasty, as uncaring, as threatened by questions from concerned patients as that guy is. I've never seen a doctor and very few professionals in any field as insecure, as phony, as pompous, as ready to fly off the handle as that guy.

[The Texan]

My sleep doc is also Board Certified and a Diplomate in Sleep Medicine etc. etc.

But very different from yours.

Mine listens and talks with you and is quite willing to write a script for the machine of my choice.

Usually being Board Certified etc. does mean a certain level of expertise. But expertise doesn't necessarily equate to being good.

Unfortunately, too many doctors in specialties also own labs and clinics and supply houses for the diseases / conditions they specialize in.
Too many doctors are there to maximize their income. Patients are last on their order of priorities.

It should be illegal for a doctor to own a company that sells supplies related to his specialty or a lab that does the tests.

This brings up a question I had on another thread. Is it common for a Dr to have the complete setup, as the one I go to has his own sleep center, and appears to also own a DME company, all through his office.

[ozij]

One thing true about docotors:
The bigwigs, president of this or that, department head, etc. those are the guys that are expert politicians. They are not necessarily the most knowledgeable in their profession.
O.

[sleepyangler]

All it means is the doc has paid his fees to be certified and agreed to follow whatever guidelines the association involved has established. Certainly doesn't signify any special knowledge or skills beyond what can be found with docs who refuse to play that game.

[Slinky]

There is training and education that must be participated in before these doctors can be certified/accredited in sleep medicine as a sub-specialty. Sleep medicine is NOT a specialty in its own right yet. That being said, what these "sleep doctors" do w/the education and training is an entirely different matter. I forget what my daughter used to say whilst in college studying engineering - something to the effect of cram and purge. Cram for the exam and then forget it and go on to the next class or test to cram for.

Keep in mind for most of these "sleep doctors" sleep medicine is just that a sub-specialty, an addition to their main source of income, their specialty. And for far too many sleep medicine is a "cash cow" requiring little time, little to no consultation w/the patients. Whilst they are supposed to score the results themselves and not rely on "just" the RPSGT's scoring, I strongly suspect very few of them do more than accept the tech's scoring, initial it and sign off as having scored it themselves.

[sleepyangler]

Oh there's required training and education before they can hang a piece of paper on the wall? Gee now I am real impressed. Nope, it is little more than a self glorification process and any given doc can be just as good as the next when it comes to treating sleep apnea regardless of "certification" by any organization set up for profit. I'll trust the real medical degrees of my doc, along with their experience and "bed-side" manner over any worthless "certification" program every single time. The certification can be there or not, makes no difference to me.

[Debjax]

Absolutely, board certified is a guarantee that they passed their boards....