"Dive Physician"??

[mccabejc]

Went to a "dive physician" today, for two reasons. The most important was to get a complete checkup by a dive specialist to make sure my almost 50 year old body is in great shape for continued diving. The secondary, and far less important reason was to get an okay to participate in a 10-week advanced OW class this summer.

So I go in there fill out some medical history, and he checks my history, and looks at me for about 70 seconds. Maybe less. His physical is only a fraction of what my personal physician does for a routine yearly physical. The only thing he did different was to ask me to get a cardiac stress test, and fax him the results, and he'll sign off on the okay.

All that for $75, which my medical insurance doesn't cover. So I'm scratching my head wondering why the hell I bothered to find a "dive physician", instead of going to my regular physician which would have cost me nothing.

Heck, I figured he'd require an x-ray, maybe some lung capacity tests, etc. Was I way out of line in my expectations?

 

[WarmWaterDiver]

Honestly, your Avatar pic doesn't look an hour over 49 years 364 days - you'd still win if in a beauty contest against Monty Burns!

I think you probably got off 'light' in what he asked for, considering the number of posts here from medical professionals with grave concerns about physicians' liability and malpractice suit worries.

My best such experiences were with a 'country doctor' family physician when I lived in the boonies of South Texas. Turned out the Doc was also a scuba diver, and as such, exercised his own judgement when it came times I needed forms, advice, etc. I haven't yet gone to a 'diving physician', but I'm probably a little further ways away from 50 (but, probably not much if expressed in percentages).

 

[jonnythan]

Why didn't you ask him before he left the room? I never got why people are so scared to ask doctors questions.. last time I saw a doc, it was a follow-up on how my broken shoulder was healing. He was ready to send me out with a "good luck" when I started asking him questions about rehab, specific exercises to work on, what kind of timeline to expect healing, lasting effects, etc. He seemed quite honestly happy that I was so full of questions.. I think that a lot of docs may be used to patients wanting to just get out and get home so they're happy to oblige, but they're also more than happy to spend as much time with you as you want.

Just call up the office and see what they have to say.

 

[WarmWaterDiver]

My current physician gets annoyed by the volume and pace of my questions - but hey, I'm the customer and paying for an answer I want to understand, much like my second run at college - the first run, the professors almost actually convinced me I was there on their sufferance - almost.

The 'country doc' really enjoyed chatting at length with me or my wife - I think he really liked having some patients to talk a bit more with on technical / physiochemical subjects, instead of the usual "Little Bubba done busted his sister's haid open again . . . "

 

[mccabejc]

The problem is, not being a doctor, I don't know what I should have expected him to do. My question is, can any of the medical folks here give me an idea of whether he should have done more? Once I know that I can go back and hound him.

Anyway, I suppose I could have said "Hey, shouldn't you have done some other stuff?", to which he would reply "No, you really don't need it".

Oh, and I made note of that Monte Burns crack...

 

[ParamedicDiver1]

I no doctor, but I did stay at a "Holiday Inn Select" last night. (In all seriousness, I am a Paramedic (13+ years) and now a Graduate Nurse.)

If he wasn't your normal doctor, then I would think he would have done some additional tests. However, if your medical screening qustions were in order, vital signs stable, and lung sounds good, then all you may need is a stress test. This will measure how your cardiovascular system responds to a little excersise. It may provide more information than anything else anyway. Lung capacity, unless you have experienced problems in the past, then probably not an issue, although a little ole chest x-ray never hurt anyone and you could probably have the "dive doc" order you one or your normal physician. Hope that helped a little.

 

[pete340]

My question is, can any of the medical folks here give me an idea of whether he should have done more?

I'm not one of the medical folks, but when I did my OW in Australia (business trip) they required a dive physical. Pretty quick, but in addition to the usual height, weight, blood pressure, etc. they did a spirogram (exhale through a one-inch tube; the machine measures air speed, and plots a graph that indicates how well your lungs work) and a tympanogram (measures how your eardrum responds to pressure changes, which can indicate potential problems equalizing).

 

[triton94949]

Went to a "dive physician" today, for two reasons. The most important was to get a complete checkup by a dive specialist to make sure my almost 50 year old body is in great shape for continued diving. The secondary, and far less important reason was to get an okay to participate in a 10-week advanced OW class this summer.

So I go in there fill out some medical history, and he checks my history, and looks at me for about 70 seconds. Maybe less. His physical is only a fraction of what my personal physician does for a routine yearly physical. The only thing he did different was to ask me to get a cardiac stress test, and fax him the results, and he'll sign off on the okay.

All that for $75, which my medical insurance doesn't cover. So I'm scratching my head wondering why the hell I bothered to find a "dive physician", instead of going to my regular physician which would have cost me nothing.

Heck, I figured he'd require an x-ray, maybe some lung capacity tests, etc. Was I way out of line in my expectations?

I go see a doctor about every 10 years.

Last time was 5 years ago to become a scuba instructor.

Got the guys number from DAN.

Most thorough exam I ever had. The guy was analytical about every little thing. Tested everything. Listened very closely to detect any possibility of a PFO. Lab tests out the wazoo. Total bill was around $300 which as you said the insurance does not cover.

I think you got off easy.

 

[WarmWaterDiver]

Hey, you're not telling me you'd lose to Monty - That's something that might happen to me (note I have no avatar)

 

[dilligaf368]

I've had to have "Diving Physicals" every year for over 30yrs. They do Check x-ray, lung volume, EKG, All the Blood chemical tests, about 12 pages of reports and a bill of $580. The Marine Contractors have to pay for the tests but takes about 2hrs to get all the crap for the Labs.
When SCUBA Medical Physicals are required, the Hospitals in this local has Doctors trained for doing Physicals. Of course, the "Turn-Your-Head-and -Cough" is on the list!
For Deep Diving, some companies require Long Bone tests. Bill