Endocrinology

[KTW2004]

I am curious as to what the motives those of you applying for an endocrinology fellowship have for doing so. What interests you about the endocrine system and why do you want to specialize in it? Also can you give me some insight on how demanding being an endocrinologist is in terms of patient care and lifestyle.

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[IronHelix]

I am curious as to what the motives those of you applying for an endocrinology fellowship have for doing so. What interests you about the endocrine system and why do you want to specialize in it? Also can you give me some insight on how demanding being an endocrinologist is in terms of patient care and lifestyle.

Endocrinology is a cushy option.

I'll take my own example as a patient to illustrate. (Male, 34)

Psych notices my mood, irritability and other symptoms (high voice, almost nonexistent libido etc) might be related to hormones.

Orders a blood test for testosterone. I don't remember the scale, but it went from like 58 - 1280 as a "normal range" and mine came back 38.

So off I go to a doctor's office. Turns out that this doctor doesn't like the tests the other doctor does and wishes to make more money I mean wishes to retest "just to make sure". Another hefty bill later, and it was like 52 with a range of 58 - 1280.

So they refer me to another specialist, turns out they only deal with trannies, if I'd wanted my male bits hacked off and if I wanted to electively pump myself full of estrogen they'd hand me a script pad.

This doctor, guess what, doesn't trust the THREE BLOOD TESTS already done and orders his own. This one comes back 60 with a range of 58-1280. Decides I'm "cured", sends me a hefty bill and sends me on my way.

Still irritable, still no libido, many journals indicate that the "normal" range might still be too low for some people, but hey, just retest til you get the results you want, and make money charging people for taking blood out of them. I'm out of money and options, having seen the two endo's in my area.

You can't do that with oncology - the X-ray will still show the cancer. Can't do that with AIDS either - you keep testing the blood, guy's still dying of AIDS. I wish it did work that way.

Oh yeah, and the kicker. The useless waste of time dingus specialist sends me a letter a year later apologising for having his laptop stolen out of my office containing my medical history.

 

[mustangsally65]

Wow, that's a sad story, IronHelix.

I have an endocrine disorder, and while I'm still just trying to get into med school, I've thought about endocrinology. I think the patient experience is an important one, but I also think that the frequency of endocrine disorders in our society is increasing dramatically (or we just have the ability to diagnose and recognize them more these days).

I never realized how vital a role hormones played in our everyday functioning until mine stopped working as they should. And I've read that 1 in 10 women in America have PCOS, which is really hard to imagine. I think endocrinology is a field that doesn't get as much publicity as it should, and that people need to be more informed about how an imbalance in hormones can really disrupt your life.

 

[JetsPickVYoung]

....people need to be more informed about how an imbalance in hormones can really disrupt your life.

Yeah, like Tom Cruise.....