Is the Thai Medical Really good?

[shygye]

... maybe you should ask for doctor recommendations.

[cavanami]

I did and thus ill try Ram Hospital, but no specific doc recommended...

[elef]

Some friends always go to Bangkok Hospital Pattaya, they do the testing and send you to the specialist in BKK.

[rookie]

I find that at the Bangkok Hospital Pattaya is mainly an overpriced hospital catering to farangs. Okay, it has nice tiles floors, brass railings, great lighting and exorbitant prices compared to other hospitals.

Yes, they do have some good docs...but many of these same docs also work at the Sirikit Navy hospital in Sattahip. Similar procedures at this hospital (which is enormous and dwarfs BHP's size) cost about 1/4 of those at BHP.

[manaomaiminam]

I did not look at all the different specializations on the net for the doctors at Bumrungrad but I did look at a few. Most of the doctors in those I looked at indeed went to Medical School in Thailand, but a high percentage (over 80 percent) were "Board Certified" in their specialization areas in the USA.

 

What is board certification? Here is a definition by a chief medical officer of a couple of Medical Centers in Arizona:

 

"Being board certified means physicians have participated in a voluntary process that involves the evaluation of their knowledge and skills beyond what's required for them to become licensed physicians. Physicians who undergo and pass these rigorous examinations received their medical specialty certification from the American Board of Medical Specialties."

 

Here is an example of what that might mean as far as a specialty area:

 

"A surgeon certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS) has met the following requirements:

 

* has earned a degree from an accredited medical school

* has completed 3 years of general surgery

* has completed 2 to 3 years of supervised residency in plastic surgery

* has had at least 2 years of professional practice

* has passed rigorous written and oral exams

 

Now, of course, all the training in the world does not mean he/she is a good doctor. But at least I feel better that any Thai doctor who was "board certified" in the USA did not have his family buy his degree and qualifications for them.

 

Secondly, I hope none of those qualifications that these physician espouse are falsified. Call me suspicious, but in a country where any of us can buy credentials, I would not put it past some doctors to falsify some of their credentials with the belief that nobody will check because of difficulty or distance. I do believe that certain specializations do maintain databases available to the public of who has certified. If you are going to a Thai doctor for a procedure that is complex and potentially dangerous (rather than routine), I would certainly check the credentials he has on the wall, noting which "board" did the certification, the year, etc. and perhaps do a rudimentary internet check or contact a doctor you trust back in the USA.

 

[redwood13]

Re foreigners enrolling in medical schools in the US, from a 2005 article, there were 125 med schools with a first year enrollment of 16,000.

 

Of the more than 1000 foreigners who applied only 270 were accepted and of those only 219 actually started med school studies. Further foreign students at American medical schools normally have studied for several years at an American college.

 

Foreign students who want to attend American medical schools must show that they can speak and write English. Foreign students also must be prepared to pay all the costs of their medical education.

 

Much of the financial aid offered by American medical schools comes from the federal government. Students who receive the aid must be American citizens or live permanently in the United States.

 

Foreign Students - Medical Schools

 

-redwood

[koow]

That's a good point. U.S. board certification (within specialties) is an important credential. When I'm in the US, I never see a doc who is not board certified (and there are some--the percentages vary across specialities.) When choosing a doc/specialist, i start out looking at what med school and residency they did and when, and at their board cert (and EXPIRATION DATE!!..i've seen a few docs that advertise "certified" on their website but it turns out they expired years ago...but that's very rare).

 

Now, as for T-land. Based on my vague memories of looking at the backrounds of docs at Bumrun. and BNH a few years ago, my GUESS is that less than half claim to be US board certified (though that will vary alot across specialities). You mentioned that you looked at few. One would need to look at a large enough random sample of the docs to see just what percentage of the docs are certified (or, ideally, look at ALL of them).

Now, the interesting part you raise: I would GUESS that about half of those who still claim to be "board-cert" on the hospital website actually let their certification expire. Just an educated guess. But i doubt that there are any (or many) docs claiming board-cert when they NEVER were to begin with.

 

One final point. Although you can verify the board certifications for SOME specialties, you can't do that for all. Although not "medical", take the case of PERIODONTOLOGY. Board certification is important there. BUT, the American Academy of Perio. provides absolutely no way to verify, or see a list, of it's board certified members (called "diplomates"). The only way you can find out is if you are a member of that organization, and get a copy of the annual printed directory.

 

Maybe some day i'll look at a large sample of the docs on the hospital websites to see what % are "certified" (or claim it).

 

p.s. The main reason I never use the often-recommended DENTAL HOSPITAL (soi 49 ?) is that they have no list, either on the web, or in person when you walk in, of the docs BACKGROUNDS. I asked for it, and when they said "no have", i left. Seeing what dental schools they went to, and possible certification (and also their age) is important enough to me when choosing a doc or dentist that I might as well just to to the places that offer that list (bumrun., bnh...).

 

 

 

 

[manaomaiminam]

You are absolutely right about the expiration of board certification--that needs to be checked. I believe recertification needs to occur around every 8 years.

 

As for dental hospitals, or large-scale clinics, I also checked out the dental hospital out on Soi 49 and found the same. That is one of the reasons I initially went to the Asavanant Clinic on Thonglor (Soi 55) and Sukhimvit, years ago. I initially entered the clinic and they had all their staff and their background/qualifications posted on the wall at reception. Now, it is on the web--although now they have a much larger staff and there are more staff members trained primarily in LOS than before. They have also expanded their office to a very new swank place (I felt that I paid for a lot of it given the amount of money I have dropped in that place). I, and the people closest to me have been treated by the largely foreign-trained staff and the service has been excellent (even in the opinion of my practitioner in the USA), though not cheap.

[cardinalblue]

When someone says they are board certified, what does that actually mean? Is that board recognized by the country's main board like in the usa the americal board of sub-spracialites? So one should ask what board and is it recognized? but a patient never does...

 

Each specialty board has their own criteria and timeline. When a doctor say they are board certified in internal medicine 1992. They passed the test in that year. Have they kept it up once returning to thailand for re-certication? Highly unlikely

 

Why don't any thai doctors receive their medical education in america? easy answer....US medical schools require a collage graduate who has taken all the difficult science prerequisites...A Thai person who goes to medical school here goes from HIGH SCHOOL. All they have accomplished is getting a high score on the university entrance exam and then off to six years of medical school. They have not completed the rigors of a highly competitve college education that filters outs so many wannabe doctors in the USA....

 

What I saw when I was teaching Thai medical students English is the same number of students progressed from one year to the next. Folks, they don't flunk out Thai students through a competitive system. They do it the thai way of cooperation and pass them along so bringing you to the question - what percentage of thai doctors are not competent to be doctors when they receive that diploma from a Thai medical school? Scary thought...

 

If anyone who is serious about knowing a little more about doctors and the cognitive mistakes doctors make in diagnosis and treatment decisions and in essence one's own care, I recommend a recent publication - "How Doctors Think" by Dr. Jerome Groopman.

 

By the way, I had a friend bring it to me from america as it wasn't available in Thailand at the time I requested it. Don't know if it has made it way here yet...

 

CB

 

 

 

 

[New Petchburi Pete]

Quality of medical care in Thailand? With medical tourism being as highly touted as it is, it is important to understand the following and not focus just on fiancial savings.

 

Many look at the rating of the hospital which is important especially if searching for one at which to treat a particular condition or to have some sort of specialised surgery.

I believe one should carefully consider the qualifications of the doctor(s) with

whom you'll be dealing.

 

Most who seek medical treatment in LOS are not informed that, in order to become a physician, one

can obtain a medical degree (practice medicine) by

merely completing satisfactoraly only five years of training at a Thai medical school after finishing both levels of high school.

By contrast, in the U.S., beyond High School, one usually attends university for four years, then medical school for another four years and then does a year year internship. Becoming a specialist requires residency programs in accredited hospitals for varying numbers of years.

So check on the qualifications (training) of the doctor you intend to see. Most Westerners who can afford to do so seek care from Thai doctors who have trained in part at least overseas.