Taking the Time to Find a SPECIALIZED Specialist, Part I

The term "specialist" in the medical field is a broad one: "Medical specialists," according to WebMD, "are doctors who have completed advanced education and clinical training in a specific area of medicine (their specialty area)." There is a profusion of certain specialists, depending on where you live, while there is a serious shortage of others. Whether there is a scarcity or abundance, it will sometimes be necessary to travel out of state to find a "specialized" specialist. 

The type of specialist I must see is a rheumatologist, having recently been diagnosed with the relatively rare autoimmune disorder, Sjögren Syndrome. I've learned the hard way that not all rheumatologists are trained to handle patients with Sjögren Syndrome. In my situation, the diagnosis was made by a specialist outside the field of rheumatology (an otolaryngologist [ear, nose, and throat specialist]). That's because two rheumatologists, one of whom practiced at a prestigious hospital in New York City, actually refused to perform a simple biopsy that would have revealed my disease—neither rheumatologist believed my symptoms were consistent with those of the disorder. While I was in the room, the New York rheumatologist argued with the neurologist who referred me to her that she didn't think I fit the profile of someone with this difficult-to-diagnosis disorder. I later learned that neither of the rheumatologists to whom I was referred was trained in the area of Sjögren Syndrome, which on average takes seven years to yield a diagnosis. I lost more than a year of my precious time because of the opinions of two rheumatologists who were not familiar with my rheumatologic condition. 

My diagnosis was finally confirmed through two biopsies, one performed at my request, by an otolaryngologist specializing in head and neck surgery. It's important to note here that one of the simpler biopsies could have been performed in the office of one of the rheumatologists I had seen months earlier, generating the same results.

Medical specialties each cover a virtually limitless assortment of rare and common diseases. Even when living in or near a large city, where in one hospital alone you might find twenty specialists in the same field, it's important to remember that medical specialists are not trained to diagnose or treat every illness designated to their fields.