FEATURE ARTICLE

How to Locate a Urologist in Your Area

Here are some ways to help you find a qualified professional near to you. By doing a little research, you can discover a doctor who is right for you.

Make a list. Check sources. Consider choices. Then decide.

A vasectomy reversal requires the skill of a board-certified urologist who is experienced in complex and delicate microsurgery. This type of medical doctor specializes exclusively in the diagnosis, treatment and surgical care of problems of the male and female urinary tract and the male reproductive organs. In addition, the surgeon may have taken additional, specialized training in this microsurgery procedure.

Because this procedure is both complicated and time-intensive, it is normally done on an outpatient basis in a surgical center or office operating room, utilizing general anesthesia. Depending on the type of procedure necessary, a vasectomy reversal may take several hours to perform. That’s why you should choose your doctor carefully, from among the most qualified candidates who are right for you.

Compile a list from several sources.

Here, presented in random order, is a list of helpful suggestions you can use to help locate a urologist who’s right for you.

• Use the FIND A DOCTOR feature on this Web site. There are several options and search tools available, including links to the American Urological Association and other professional organizations.
  
  
• Ask your health insurance provider. Few health care insurance programs include coverage for vasectomy reversal, so this is likely to be a fee-for-service procedure. However, you may select your own urologist from a number of informative consumer resources.
  
  
• Ask your family doctor to recommend a urologist. General practitioners routinely make referrals to specialists they feel confident about.
  
  
• Call a local hospital. You will not need to go to a hospital for a vasectomy, but most hospitals will provide you with a list of urologists in your area.
  
  
• Ask a close friend or family member about their experiences with vasectomy reversal. "Word of mouth" recommendations are a common way to find out more, and it’s possible that you know someone who has had a reversal. This may not be a good source for medical advice, but you can learn how others became informed and approached their decision.

Credentials: Digging deeper.

In addition to referrals, you may want to consider the training, credentials and experience of a urologist. Many practitioners include this information in a professional practice Web site, a brochure, an informal "waiting room resume" or a formal, professional biography called a Curriculum Vitae (CV).

You may want to confirm this information with independent sources. Some ways to dig deeper include:

• Consult medical directories. The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), for example, allows the public to verify the board certification status, location by city and state and specialty of any physician certified by one or more of the 24 Member Boards of the ABMS. It’s free online, but you will need to have the correct spelling of the individual’s name: Go to: ABMS [http://www.abms.org/].
  
  
• Consult your state or local medical society. Many such organizations provide a clearinghouse for information that is available to the general public.
  
  
• Check hospital appointments. Typically, hospitals examine a doctor’s credentials and experience before making staff appointments. Many also monitor staff performance. A teaching position at a hospital or medical school can be a further indication of qualification.

Other practical and personal considerations.

In addition to identifying one or more qualified urologists, some more simple, sensible criteria may also be useful to keep in mind. You may or may not want to consider:

• Proximity and convenience. People are often willing to travel a little further to see a specialist. Even so, you will probably want the urologist’s office to be not-too-distant, easy to find, have convenient hours, allow easy access and parking, and/or be close to public transportation.
  
  
• Gender and age. Some people have a preference for a doctor of the same gender or of a certain age group. These factors, however, probably do not have much to do with the qualifications of the practitioner.
  
  
• Language. Effective communication is important to every doctor-patient relationship. If this could be a concern, you may want to ask what languages are routinely spoken in the office.
  
  
• Office intangibles. Your experience with a urology practice can be influenced by non-medical things, such as how you were greeted on the phone, how the office looks, the attitudes of the staff, the way the doctor makes you feel and other intangibles.

In Summary:

• Urologists, surgical specialists, perform most vasectomy reversals.
• You can compile a list of urologists from several sources.
• In addition to referrals, you may want to consider (and independently verify) training, credentials and experience of doctors.
• Practical and personal considerations may also be important in your choice.

Related: Check out related pages from vasectomy.com…

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