Making sure we see the right doctor

johnbeck4321

Hi Guys,

There arent many good specialists in my city and I need a an expert 2nd opinion for my wife. I looked up a few remote 2nd opinion services where I upload my xrays onto a website and am then connected with a top specialist from US/Germany via video conference. I am trying to decide between using such a service or just flying to a specialist. Does anyone have any experience with such a remote 2nd opinion service. Any thoughts on their value would be much appreciated, thank you!

dtad

Where do you live? In the US I would recommend getting a second opinion at a university based teaching hospital. Good luck and keep us posted....

dlb823

Hi, John ~ Has your wife been diagnosed with breast cancer? If so, I would highly recommend that she goes to an NCI-designated cancer center for a second opinion. The reason for this is, they have experts who have dedicated their medical careers to breast cancer, so are truly the top specialists in the US. In addition, because they are the ones both doing the research and teaching the latest to new med students, they are absolutely up on both the latest research stats (to justify tx recommendations), as well as all the leading edge treatment options. And because they see more breast cancer than local surgeons and oncologists who often treat a variety of cancers and other conditions do, they have the most experience with the different subsets, as well as recognizing problems or concerns docs who don't do breast cancer 24/7 may not. And they will have all the specialties you need under one roof or on one campus, which makes coordination much easier than it can be otherwise.

I think either Johns Hopkins or Dana Farber (forget which) does offer long distance opinions. But if you are in the US, then a trip to your nearest NCI-designated cancer center will be well worth the time. Here's a list of them by state: http://www.cancer.gov/research/nci-role/cancer-cen...

Good luck, and keep us posted! Deanna

johnbeck4321

Thank you guys, I really appreciate the help! I think I will use a remote option offered by MD ANderson. Does any one have any experiences with any of the remote options or the one by MD Anderson done remotely?

best,

J