How do I evaluate a endocrinologist or urologist?
May 18, 2021 12:30 PM Subscribe
I have hormone issues. Some of my hormone issues are related to obesity. Some doctors are dismissive of my conditions and just say "lose weight". How can I find an endocrinologist or urologist without playing roulette until I find someone who is not dismissive? I'm in Western NC.
I need to find a good endocrinologist or urologist out of the sea of options. Perhaps rightly so, obesity is the primary thing some of my medical professionals seem to focus on (and they ignore other things like a family history unrelated to weight). I still need to manage my conditions & quality of life while I lose weight, and I don't think that is too much to ask.
I've had much more empathetic and knowledgeable doctors but I recently moved, so I know this is not out of order and that my weight shouldn't preclude getting treatment for my conditions).
I'm in Asheville, NC if it makes any difference but willing to travel 4+ hours to see the right doc so that's Nashville, Atlanta, Charlotte, Winston-Salem or RTP, but I'm really focused on "what are the right questions to ask pre-eval" (and how to ask them)?
I need to find a good endocrinologist or urologist out of the sea of options. Perhaps rightly so, obesity is the primary thing some of my medical professionals seem to focus on (and they ignore other things like a family history unrelated to weight). I still need to manage my conditions & quality of life while I lose weight, and I don't think that is too much to ask.
I've had much more empathetic and knowledgeable doctors but I recently moved, so I know this is not out of order and that my weight shouldn't preclude getting treatment for my conditions).
I'm in Asheville, NC if it makes any difference but willing to travel 4+ hours to see the right doc so that's Nashville, Atlanta, Charlotte, Winston-Salem or RTP, but I'm really focused on "what are the right questions to ask pre-eval" (and how to ask them)?
I can tell you how I evaluated mine, and fired the ones who didn't measure up pretty fast.
If they ask me how I feel, and discuss symptoms and concerns I have as a person, and possible approaches, even if they are a little out of the mainstream, they get to stay. If they look at the test results and tell me that I am just fat but my labs are "within normal range," so they aren't going do anything to address my concerns, I kick them to the curb.
Now, I have a concierge endo who is not accountable to some creepy corporate practice, and instead focused on what's best for me. My doctor is also a woman, because I have found more willingness to listen and collaborate from my woman doctors than my male doctors. Past male doctors were mainly wanting to talk about how fat I was and how I should start running and stop eating so much and basically become a completely different person.
posted by answergrape at 1:02 PM on May 18, 2021 [3 favorites]
If they ask me how I feel, and discuss symptoms and concerns I have as a person, and possible approaches, even if they are a little out of the mainstream, they get to stay. If they look at the test results and tell me that I am just fat but my labs are "within normal range," so they aren't going do anything to address my concerns, I kick them to the curb.
Now, I have a concierge endo who is not accountable to some creepy corporate practice, and instead focused on what's best for me. My doctor is also a woman, because I have found more willingness to listen and collaborate from my woman doctors than my male doctors. Past male doctors were mainly wanting to talk about how fat I was and how I should start running and stop eating so much and basically become a completely different person.
posted by answergrape at 1:02 PM on May 18, 2021 [3 favorites]
The HAES registry has one Physician Assistant listed in NC, at the Eagle Physicians practice in Greensboro - I'd start by emailing/calling them and asking if they have an endo or urologist they recommend. Or using the registry to find someone in your 4-hour catchment zone who would be a good fit.
posted by All hands bury the dead at 1:18 PM on May 18, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by All hands bury the dead at 1:18 PM on May 18, 2021 [2 favorites]
"Perhaps rightly so, obesity is the primary thing some of my medical professionals seem to focus on (and they ignore other things like a family history unrelated to weight)."
It sounds like you sort of get this, but in case you or anyone else needs to hear it: No, this is not "rightly so." This is not too much of an ask. Weight bias is extremely common in medicine and your doctors are wrong to do this. You deserve the same standard of care that a thin person does, actually! It is not okay for doctors to have a knee-jerk response that whatever the problem is was caused by the size of your body and assume then that the issue needs no further inquiry. Do thin people get this medical problem, whatever it is? (Answer is always yes.) And what would the doctor test, recommend, or prescribe to the thin person? That's what you should get. If you want to lose weight and weight loss helps the condition, that's your choice and that's great, but you don't deserve to have medical care withheld unless or until you can accomplish that extremely difficult task.
posted by Squalor Victoria at 7:38 AM on May 19, 2021
It sounds like you sort of get this, but in case you or anyone else needs to hear it: No, this is not "rightly so." This is not too much of an ask. Weight bias is extremely common in medicine and your doctors are wrong to do this. You deserve the same standard of care that a thin person does, actually! It is not okay for doctors to have a knee-jerk response that whatever the problem is was caused by the size of your body and assume then that the issue needs no further inquiry. Do thin people get this medical problem, whatever it is? (Answer is always yes.) And what would the doctor test, recommend, or prescribe to the thin person? That's what you should get. If you want to lose weight and weight loss helps the condition, that's your choice and that's great, but you don't deserve to have medical care withheld unless or until you can accomplish that extremely difficult task.
posted by Squalor Victoria at 7:38 AM on May 19, 2021
I prefer to see Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants for my primary care. They tend to focus on health at every size, in my experience. They, in turn, have connected me with my specialists, who have a very similar approach. I can self-refer with my insurance, but i would have never found these folks if i was just "shopping" for them. So if your first visits with your specialists are unsuccessful, this is an approach to try.
posted by BlueBear at 11:24 AM on May 19, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by BlueBear at 11:24 AM on May 19, 2021 [1 favorite]
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posted by astapasta24 at 12:49 PM on May 18, 2021 [1 favorite]