A few questions...

[cool_vkb]

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hey i am kind of confused with US healthcare system. In India we have Medical school-5yrs and then 1 yr of general residency(in the same MD school). So total 6yrs spend and you can start practicing Medicine or as a General practioner or even concentrate ur practice only on one speciality.

If someone has interest in some speciality, they may apply later for a speciality residency/program for extra experience and knowledge ,which is again 2-3yrs. But it is not required by law. and even if he has a done speciality program in cardiology, he still can keep on seeing patients having orthopedic problems (based on wat he learnt during his med schoola and 1yr general residency)/

My question is, here in USA, u dont get a license unless u complete a 3yr speciality residency. So if someone has done a residency in Neurology. Then is there any way he can see Gynecology Patients based on wat he learnt in Medical schoo or he has to refer it to gynecologists. if he treats will he be arrested or sued. And arent we like limited to only one speciality in US.

 

[jonwill]

hey i am kind of confused with US healthcare system. In India we have Medical school-5yrs and then 1 yr of general residency(in the same MD school). So total 6yrs spend and you can start practicing Medicine or as a General practioner or even concentrate ur practice only on one speciality.

If someone has interest in some speciality, they may apply later for a speciality residency/program for extra experience and knowledge ,which is again 2-3yrs. But it is not required by law. and even if he has a done speciality program in cardiology, he still can keep on seeing patients having orthopedic problems (based on wat he learnt during his med schoola and 1yr general residency)/

My question is, here in USA, u dont get a license unless u complete a 3yr speciality residency. So if someone has done a residency in Neurology. Then is there any way he can see Gynecology Patients based on wat he learnt in Medical schoo or he has to refer it to gynecologists. if he treats will he be arrested or sued. And arent we like limited to only one speciality in US.

Basically, your scope of practice is limited to what you specialized in during residency.

 

[cool_vkb]

Basically, your scope of practice is limited to what you specialized in during residency.

so u mean, a physician who has done residency in neurology cannot treat anything outside his speciality! it is againts the law.

 

[Podman]

so u mean, a physician who has done residency in neurology cannot treat anything outside his speciality! it is againts the law.

If you are speaking from the perspective of the law. Then legally speaking, an MD/DO is legally allowed to treat any part of the body - this is in accordance of the language of the law. However, no MD/DO in his/her right mind would treat anything outside of their specialty.

Here in the united states, lawsuits and malpractice play a very large role in how patients get treated - no physician (most of the time at least) would want to risk losing their license for treating something beyond their scope (even if they are capable of doing so) because things can and do go wrong unexpectedly - and when they do, guess who has to explain that infront of a judge and jury of 12 people?

 

[AZPOD Rocks]

so u mean, a physician who has done residency in neurology cannot treat anything outside his speciality! it is againts the law.

VKB,

Absolutely! This is true. The whole facade of "whole body practitioner" is so pervasive in our country. The truth is that MDs and DOs are sued all the time for treating medical issues for which they were not adequately trained. If they perform a procedure or try to tackle a problem which another doctor could have handled far more favorably, they can be sued. How is this different from podiatry? It is not.

Our friend, Dawg, for intance is very shortly going to be a fellowship trained foot and ankle orthopedic surgeon (a title to be proud of!). However, in subsequent years we will most likely see Dawg imposing a self-regulated limit on his scope of practice. He will be really good at ankle, feet, and we'll say knees and hips. Then, lady X comes along with the need for some rather intense hand surgery. He will not feel comforable treating her, but will refer her out to a hand specialist who doesn't feel comfortable treating anything but hands... and so the circle continues.

We are no different than any other practitioner in the sense that we have a limited scope of practice. With the intense volume of literature directed at each respective part of the body, no one can be well-versed in it all. The only difference between us and them is that our limits are mainly placed by legislation while theirs are mainly self-placed.

AZPOD Rocks

 

[scpod]

My question is, here in USA, u dont get a license unless u complete a 3yr speciality residency. So if someone has done a residency in Neurology. Then is there any way he can see Gynecology Patients based on wat he learnt in Medical schoo or he has to refer it to gynecologists. if he treats will he be arrested or sued. And arent we like limited to only one speciality in US.

Actually, you don't have to complete a 3yr residency in most states to be licensed, unless you are a graduate of a foreign medical school. You can usually be licensed after one year of internship in most states. That is the reason why residents can moonlight after their internship.

Also, there are still quite a lot of FP doctors who do all kinds of things. They deliver babies, perform minor sugeries (like tonsillectomys), perform colonoscopies, do skin grafts, needle biopsies, and a host of other things. Most of them live in more rural areas, though, where there is little competition with specialists. However, the fact that they perform procedures also means that they are often very highly compensated. The currrent president of the ACOFP has a practice in a little town that you've never heard of and makes over $350,000 a year because he does a lot of procedures and only pays only $13,000 a year in malpractice insurance. You don't have to do a residency to perform all the procedures, but you do have to be trained in them.

No, a neurologist probably would never do obstetrics, but chances are he had to deliver a few babies during internship. However, if the neurologist decided he wanted to make some extra money on the side by giving botox injections, then he could certainly do a little training and add that to his practice. There is no law preventing him from doing it.