Always make arrangements through your family doctor when you find it necessary to consult a specialist. This way, there will always be one doctor who knows everything that has happened to you and your family. Also, it is sometimes difficult for a person to decide what kind of specialist he needs. Under the conditions of the Australian National Health Act it is not possible to claim for a specialist’s fees unless a form of referral has been obtained from your family doctor.
In order to become a genuine specialist, a doctor has to undergo a long and difficult training in his chosen specialty.
Dictionary of specialists
Here are the principal specialists in medicine and related fields:
Allergist—a doctor who specializes in such diseases as hay fever, asthma, hives, and allergic reactions to food. (For further information, see also allergy in the encyclopaedia section.)
Anaesthetist—a specialist in administering anaesthetics for surgery. Dermatologist—a doctor who specializes in diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the skin, hair, and scalp.
Ear, nose and throat (E.N.T.) surgeon- deals with ailments of the ears, throat, sinuses, and nose.
Gastro-enterologist a doctor who specializes in the treatment of diseases of the stomach and intestines.
Gynaecologist—a specialist who treats disorders of the female organs. Haematologist—a specialist in all diseases of the blood.
Neurologist—a specialist who treats all organic diseases of the nerves and brain. He is more properly a nerve specialist than is the psychiatrist.
Neurosurgeon—a specialist surgeon who operates on the brain, spinal cord and nerves.
Obstetrician—a specialist who delivers babies and takes care of the pregnant woman during the months before the birth of the baby. Most obstetricians are also qualified to practise gynaecology.
Ophthalmologist—a doctor who is an eye specialist. He is trained in surgery of the eye as well as in all its diseases. An optometrist is not a medical doctor. He has been trained to examine the eyes for the purpose of prescribing glasses. An optician is the man who fills the prescriptions for glasses made by the ophthalmologist or optometrist. Neither the optometrist nor the optician is trained for the treatment of diseases of the eye.
Orthopaedic surgeon—a specialist in diseases of the bones and joints. The field of orthopaedics comprises the setting of fractures, treatment of the end results of paralysis, and many other conditions that cause interference with the use of the bones, joints, and muscles.
Paediatrician—a doctor who takes care of infants and children up to the age of 13 or 14.
Pathologist—a specialist who studies changes in tissues arising from disease. Physician—a doctor who specialises in diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions of the entire body. He is also known as a clinician. A patient is frequently referred to a specialist physician when his own doctor wants confirmation of a difficult diagnosis.
Psychiatrist—a medical graduate with special training in the treatment of the emotionally disturbed and mentally ill, as well as backward children. Radiologist—a specialist in taking and interpreting X-ray photographs. The radiotherapist is expert in using radium, X-rays, and other radio-active substances for the treatment of cancer and other diseases.
Surgeon—a doctor who specializes in performing operations. He may be a general surgeon or he may confine his operations to one of the specialized branches of surgery.
Urologist—a specialist in treatment of the kidneys. He also treats special problems relating to the male genital organs. For example, he is the doctor who usually operates on a diseased prostate gland.
Group medical practice
Although many general practitioners still practise in pairs or even singly, an increasing number of doctors are working together in a group practice. Some of these groups include specialists in almost every branch of medicine; other groups may be quite small, consisting of two or three general practitioners, a surgeon and some other specialist.
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