Medical Specialist

A medical specialist is a doctor who has completed advanced educational and clinical training in a specialty area recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) or the Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists. Most medical specialist receive recommendations for patients through a family doctor or another specialist and may not be willing to accept or see a patient who has not first been examined by another doctor. This process ensures that patients who go to a specialist really need their services.

In some situations, it may be difficult to determine if you need to see a specialist and which specialist may be best suited to review your condition. For example, visual problems may be limited to abnormalities in the eye, but they could also be a symptom of a different condition such as diabetes, tumor, stroke or hardening of the arteries. So in this example, the patient may have to see a variety of doctors to discover the underlying primary cause of their ailment.

Prior to seeing a specialist, it is a good idea to understand what they do and what you can expect from them. It is also beneficial to get all the information you can about your condition and symptoms. Specialists can include immunologists, anesthesiologists, cardiologists, dermatologists, critical care medicine specialist, diagnostic radiologists, endocrinologists, gynecologists and surgeons, just to name a few.