Specialist qualified to treat your condition
When you or a family member are diagnosed with a medical condition, identifying an appropriate physician or surgeon can be difficult given the plethora of unfamiliar terminology and qualifications used by doctors.
Some information you may find useful:
- Check on the specialist’s qualifications and degrees to ensure that their specialty is appropriate to treat your condition. Selection of a competent physician or surgeon could be the most important decision made by a patient.
- All suffixes after a doctor’s name may not represent degrees or medical qualifications and may represent affiliations with professional organizations.
- Different countries award degrees with different names for medical or surgical specialties and super-specialties.
- Medical colleges in India award the degree MBBS which allows physicians to enter the practice of medicine. Doctors may then elect to specialize in General Medicine or General Surgery and obtain super-specialty degrees in medical or surgical specialties.
- Physicians qualified in United States of America (USA) obtain medical degrees called MD followed by specialization in a Graduate Medical Education program and super-specialty qualification in a medical or surgical fellowship.
- Doctors qualified in United Kingdom (UK) obtain medical degrees called MBBS or MBChB followed by specialty and super-specialty qualification.
- An important indicator of a physician or surgeon’s competence is certification by a nationally approved medical or surgical board. When you choose a physician or surgeon who is awarded a degree by a national board in a medical or surgical specialty, you are assured that he or she has completed years of post-graduate training in the specialty and has demonstrated knowledge and competence by successfully passing a rigorous examination.
- For surgeons qualified in USA, a sign of competence is certification by a surgical board approved by the American Board of Medical Specialties.
To learn more see American College of Surgeons - Doctors qualified in UK after obtaining medical degrees seek specialty and super-specialty qualification in medical or surgical specialties awarded by the Royal College of Surgeons or General Medical Council.
To learn more see Royal College of Physicians
- For surgeons qualified in USA, a sign of competence is certification by a surgical board approved by the American Board of Medical Specialties.