The search for an endocrinologist

It has become difficult to find a doctor who still carries out hormone analyses himself or at least has done so in the past, is therefore still familiar with the pitfalls of hormone determinations, still interprets thyroid ultrasound and scintigraphy himself and can therefore combine the advantages of both methods.

Most of the endocrinologists who are now trained have never carried out hormone determinations or thyroid scintigraphy themselves. This is the responsibility of the central laboratory or nuclear medicine department in the clinic. If you are not aware of the many obstacles to determining very low hormone concentrations, you will encounter more difficulties than necessary. In addition, since the technical examinations are paid for in medicine, but not the intellectual effort of a reasonable design of the diagnostics as well as the detailed interpretation of the results and the information of the patients, the financial basis for endocrinology in the practice and in the outpatient clinic is no longer given.

At best, good diabetic training can keep endocrinologists without their own laboratory “afloat”. However, the remaining, time-consuming work with endocrinology patients is always an interesting challenge with an exciting topic!