A Board Certified Specialist of a particular specialty indicates thaat the specialist has fulfilled the necessary requirements for the practice of that specialty and has passed both written and oral examinations given by the Specialty Board.



1. The first best source to tap is your friend that works in the operating room of the hospital.

He or she can be a nurse, or an operating room technician, or a staff nurse in the operating room. These people know who are the best qualified among the specialists in the hospital.

These workers in the operating rooms have first hand knowledge about the specialist's technical expertise because they see them perform the operative procedures and how well they do them. Maybe they actually assist them, and if they don't assist them, they will know from their colleagues who actually assist these surgeons in the actual performance of the operative procedure.

2. The second best source of information is your family doctor because he knows his colleagues where he refers his patients.

The family doctor during his practice usually has his favorite surgeon for a particular procedure who has successfully treated his patients. His opinion is most valuable if you dont't know anybody who closely know the particular specialist for your surgical problem.

3. The third source is The Specialist Medical Directory of the Local Medical Society.

The Specialist Directory of the Local Medical Society is usually available in hospital library, or even in your local library.

It is probably easy to locate the Medical Society Specialist Directory if you know a friend that works in the hospital, or doctor's clinic where the directory is usually available. You can locate the specialists of your surgical problem listed in well-arranged Sections of the Directory.

4. The Medical Society Office of your local town or city.

If you are The office of the medical Society in your local city, you can call them and most probably a secretary can help you locate a specialist or fax you a page of a current directory of specialists for your surgical problem.

5. Members of your family who know the particular specialist.

Some members of your family might have been treated by surgeons who treated them in the past and were satisfied with their services. Your family members may have friends that have been treated by surgeons that they respect and were satisfied with their services.

6. Your medical insurance carrier has a list of specialists that they recommend.

But can you select your won surgeon? It depends upon what insurance coverage you have. If you belong to the PPO, preferred providers, then you can select your surgeon. But if you belong to the HMO, usually they have their own panel of specialists that they recommend.

7. The Emergency Room of the Hospital or Your Local Telephone Book. They can tell you the Specialists for your particular surgical problem..

However,the one thing that you have to remember is that these are genetral referrals by somebody that usually does not know personally the techical ability or qualification of the specialist he is recommending to you, unless they personally know him or has a friend or member of his family that personally knows the qualification of this doctor.

The Telephone Book Yellow Pages. You can find doctors with their particular specialties, but this is an impersonal source, unless you are looking for a doctor that you already personally knew.

The above sources of information to select the specialist for your surgical problem are available if you make an extra effort. Just like anything else, you get what you work for, with a particular purpose in mind.

Personal knowledge of the technical expertise and professional qualification of surgical specialists are very important to trust the specialist who is going to treat you.

Technical expertise and professional qualification are not the only important factors in your selection. The surgeon's bedside manners are an added bonus for your due diligence.