Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Why are you seeing the gastroenterologist?

Michael Kirsch, MD
Physician
October 18, 2017
Share
Tweet
Share

Gastroenterologists, as specialists, are called upon by other doctors to address digestive issues in their patients. For example, our daily office schedule is filled with patients sent by primary care physicians who want our advice or our technical testing skills to evaluate individuals with abdominal pain, bowel issues, heartburn, rectal bleeding and various other symptoms. The same process occurs when we are called to see hospital patients. If a hospital admitting physician, who is usually a hospitalist, wants an opinion or a test that is beyond his knowledge level, then we are called in to assist.

The highest quality referring physicians are those who ask us a specific question after they have given the issue considerable thought. Contrast the following three scenarios and decide which referring physician you would select as your own doctor.

“Dr. Gastro. Just met this patient for the first time with a month of stomach aches. Please evaluate.”

“Why did your doctor send you here?” queried Dr. Gastro to the patient. “No idea,” responded the patient.

“Dr. Gastro, please evaluate my patient with upper abdominal pain. I thought it might be an ulcer, but the pain has not changed after a month of ulcer medication. The pain is not typical of the usual abdominal conditions we see. Do you think a CT scan of the abdomen or a scope exam of the stomach would be the next step? Open to your suggestions.”

As readers can surmise, I favor primary care and referring physicians who give thought prior to consulting me. There are many reasons today why primary care physicians pull the specialty consult trigger quickly. Sometimes, busy internists simply don’t have the time available to deeply contemplate patients’ symptoms. Physicians have also referred patients to specialists with the hope of gaining litigation protection by passing the patient up the chain, although the medical malpractice crusade has eased over the past few years. Often, patients drive the specialty consultation process by asking to be sent to specialists.

More often than you would think, we see patients in our office or in the hospital when neither the patient nor I have a clue why they are there. This adds excitement to our task. In addition to being diagnosticians, we must also serve as detectives, divining the reason that the patient is before us.

Michael Kirsch is a gastroenterologist who blogs at MD Whistleblower.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

How can we make a best guess with incomplete information?

October 18, 2017 Kevin 1
…
Next

As a leader, you can be liked or respected. But rarely both.

October 18, 2017 Kevin 3
…

Tagged as: Gastroenterology, Primary Care

Post navigation

< Previous Post
How can we make a best guess with incomplete information?
Next Post >
As a leader, you can be liked or respected. But rarely both.

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Michael Kirsch, MD

  • Are Ozempic patients on a slow-moving runaway train?

    Michael Kirsch, MD
  • AI-driven diagnostics and beyond

    Michael Kirsch, MD
  • The surprising truth behind virtual visits

    Michael Kirsch, MD

Related Posts

  • The cost of drugs confounds this gastroenterologist

    Michael Kirsch, MD
  • More physician responsibility for patient care

    Michael R. McGuire
  • Why health care replaced physician care

    Michael Weiss, MD
  • Primary Care First: CMS develops a value-based primary care program for independent practices

    Robert Colton, MD
  • A physician’s addiction to social media

    Amanda Xi, MD
  • Health care needs more physician CEOs

    Alexi Nazem, MD

More in Physician

  • Unity in primary care: Why I believe physicians and NPs/PAs must work together toward the same goal

    Jerina Gani, MD, MPH
  • Guilty until proven innocent? My experience with a state medical board.

    Jeffrey Hatef, Jr., MD
  • How to balance clinical duties with building a startup

    Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA
  • When life makes you depend on Depends

    Francisco M. Torres, MD
  • Implementing value-based telehealth pain management and substance misuse therapy service

    Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD
  • How an insider advocate can save a loved one

    Chrissie Ott, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • How hospitals can prepare for CMS’s new patient safety rule

      Kim Adelman, PhD | Conditions
    • How a doctor defied a hurricane to save a life

      Dharam Persaud-Sharma, MD, PhD | Physician
    • Why primary care needs better dermatology training

      Alex Siauw | Conditions
    • Guilty until proven innocent? My experience with a state medical board.

      Jeffrey Hatef, Jr., MD | Physician
    • Why physician strikes are a form of hospice

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • Why medical notes have become billing scripts instead of patient stories

      Sriman Swarup, MD, MBA | Tech
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why transgender health care needs urgent reform and inclusive practices

      Angela Rodriguez, MD | Conditions
    • COVID-19 was real: a doctor’s frontline account

      Randall S. Fong, MD | Conditions
    • Why primary care doctors are drowning in debt despite saving lives

      John Wei, MD | Physician
    • New student loan caps could shut low-income students out of medicine

      Tom Phan, MD | Physician
    • Confessions of a lipidologist in recovery: the infection we’ve ignored for 40 years

      Larry Kaskel, MD | Conditions
    • mRNA post vaccination syndrome: Is it real?

      Harry Oken, MD | Conditions
  • Recent Posts

    • Few people realize this common infection can cause serious complications [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Unity in primary care: Why I believe physicians and NPs/PAs must work together toward the same goal

      Jerina Gani, MD, MPH | Physician
    • My improbable survival of stage 4 cancer

      Kelly Curtin-Hallinan, DO | Conditions
    • How Filipino cultural values shape silence around mental health

      Victor Fu and Charmaigne Lopez | Education
    • Why leadership training in medicine needs to start with self-awareness

      Amelie Oshikoya, MD, MHA | Education
    • Federal shakeup of vaccine policy and the battle for public trust [PODCAST]

      American College of Physicians & The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

Leave a Comment

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • How hospitals can prepare for CMS’s new patient safety rule

      Kim Adelman, PhD | Conditions
    • How a doctor defied a hurricane to save a life

      Dharam Persaud-Sharma, MD, PhD | Physician
    • Why primary care needs better dermatology training

      Alex Siauw | Conditions
    • Guilty until proven innocent? My experience with a state medical board.

      Jeffrey Hatef, Jr., MD | Physician
    • Why physician strikes are a form of hospice

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • Why medical notes have become billing scripts instead of patient stories

      Sriman Swarup, MD, MBA | Tech
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why transgender health care needs urgent reform and inclusive practices

      Angela Rodriguez, MD | Conditions
    • COVID-19 was real: a doctor’s frontline account

      Randall S. Fong, MD | Conditions
    • Why primary care doctors are drowning in debt despite saving lives

      John Wei, MD | Physician
    • New student loan caps could shut low-income students out of medicine

      Tom Phan, MD | Physician
    • Confessions of a lipidologist in recovery: the infection we’ve ignored for 40 years

      Larry Kaskel, MD | Conditions
    • mRNA post vaccination syndrome: Is it real?

      Harry Oken, MD | Conditions
  • Recent Posts

    • Few people realize this common infection can cause serious complications [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Unity in primary care: Why I believe physicians and NPs/PAs must work together toward the same goal

      Jerina Gani, MD, MPH | Physician
    • My improbable survival of stage 4 cancer

      Kelly Curtin-Hallinan, DO | Conditions
    • How Filipino cultural values shape silence around mental health

      Victor Fu and Charmaigne Lopez | Education
    • Why leadership training in medicine needs to start with self-awareness

      Amelie Oshikoya, MD, MHA | Education
    • Federal shakeup of vaccine policy and the battle for public trust [PODCAST]

      American College of Physicians & The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Leave a Comment

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...