Re: teaching hospitals to W. & Tammy

[Guest guest]

W. wrote:

> I need to comment on what you wrote about teaching

hospitals. I sooooooo disagree with you. These hospitals have

the best equipment, Mds and all the newest research and

techniques.

Dear and Tammy,

Thank you so much for your very nice compliment, , and

also for your honesty about how you feel about teaching

hospitals. The only thing I would like to correct you on is that you

need to understand that what I wrote IS NOT my opinion, but my

doctor's opinion, for I wrote:

<He doesn't want me to go to a teaching university, saying that

he feels they are too focused on using the patient as an

example, sometimes more willing to take extra risks in the name

of research and teaching, instead of the clinical environment

where the purpose is to discover what the patient's problem is

and then heal it.>

<Although he feels very strongly about this, he's always said

that he would stand behind any choices I made. >

Then let me go ahead and clarify this by saying that I don't agree

with him, that's why I brought up the fact that he would stand

behind MY choices.

I've many times praised the facilities at MUSC on this site,

perhaps not so very recently, but many times in the past years

that I've been a member of the PAI. As you know, MUSC is a

teaching hospital. The surgeons and medical staff there were

solely responsible for my sister-in-laws miraculous survival after

some horribly blotched surgery several years ago. She became

a tremendously complicated case, in a coma for three months. I

ended up practically living at the hospital, or diving back and forth

several days a week, all those months. During this time I had

thorough opportunity to see how the staff there works and it was

there that I learned what excellent care is all about! I have

absolutely no reservations whatsoever about teaching hospitals!

So my doctor's and my opinions differ in this regard, yet I'm

relieved to know that he'll willingly refer me to any facility I would

want to go to. This is important to me, because if and when I

should need to make a decision to go to a medical facility for

surgery, I want to know that I have him to return to for my general

care afterwards. Good Gastro's are hard to come by in my area,

and I wouldn't want my preferences to stand in the way of our

continued patient-doctor relationship.

Thanks again for your comments. It's good to hear that you had

such a good experience and such a positive attitude about the

care you received at all those teaching facilities. I have found the

same to be true elsewhere, too!

With love, hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

South Carolina

SC & SE Regional Rep.

PAI

Note: All comments or advice are personal opinion only, and

should not be substituted with professional medical

consultation.