Matt's crash course in the world of medical specialists. By Matt Stone
UNTIL my recent bout with giant cell arteritis I had never known there were so many ologists. Of course I knew about the oncologist for cancer and dermatologist for Liane’s rosacea but except for cardiologists I think I had reached my lot that I could answer quickly in a quiz.
Now I realise there are a significant number with each ologist having a specific focus with their skills honed through years of study and practice in their chosen field.
The suffix ology comes from the Greek logia and means the study of. Outside of medicine there are lots of examples like biology, geology, sociology, anthropology, theology, ontology and psychology.
UNTIL my recent bout with giant cell arteritis I had never known there were so many ologists. Of course I knew about the oncologist for cancer and dermatologist for Liane’s rosacea but except for cardiologists I think I had reached my lot that I could answer quickly in a quiz.
Now I realise there are a significant number with each ologist having a specific focus with their skills honed through years of study and practice in their chosen field.
The suffix ology comes from the Greek logia and means the study of. Outside of medicine there are lots of examples like biology, geology, sociology, anthropology, theology, ontology and psychology.
This is not to be confused with the term tautology. Ology also means speech or discourse and with the tauto meaning the same we come up with a term that refers to saying the same thing twice over in different words, eg. they arrived one after the other in succession. The tendency to double up meanings, resulting in tautological phrases, is a quirky feature of English that often slips unnoticed into everyday speech. When we say things like “free gift” (after all a gift is always free – or is it???) or “return back” or “added bonus” (but wait there’s more - six free steak knives??), we’re repeating ourselves for emphasis.
|
Within medicine, according to the Australian Health Practitioners Regulatory Body’s Medical Board List of Specialties, there are 64 fields of specialty practice and related specialist titles in total. For anyone who cares, of course in the biggest and best (USA), there are 84 (excluding buls***ology, recently confirmed through the courts as official!). We certainly can’t trump that! But the number of ologies continues to grow to address previously unmet or newly recognised health concerns.
We recently attended a wonderful lecture series at U3A where a world renowned endocrinologist helped us to better understand hormones. In it he shared with us what a difficult task the general practitioner had in having to know a little bit about everything, to then refer to specialists who know a lot about a little bit of our complex bodies. They become the lynchpin organising the right specialist. This is reflected in the fact that a referral from a GP is good for 12 months, but from a specialist it is only good for three months. |
Some of the ologists
Anestheologist Cardiologist Clinical Pharmacologist Cytopathology Dermatologist Endocrinologist Gastroenterologist Gynaecological oncologist Gynaecologist Haematologist Hepatologist Immunologist Microbiologist Neonatologist Nephrologist Neuro ophthalmologist Ophthalmologist Otolaryngologist Pathologist Proctologist Radiologist Rheumatologist Urogynaecologist Urologist |
The sheer variety of ologists reflects the complexity of the human body and the advances in modern medicine with each subspecialty collaborating with other ologists, ensuring that, no matter how rare or specific a medical issue might be, every part of your body is covered by one specialist or another. It is essentially one big team ensuring that each patient receives holistic and well co-ordinated care tailored to their unique needs.
It seemed reasonable to me to understand what these specialists were actually going to do to me, or in a couple of cases had already done!
In addition to the ologies, there are a few ortho prefixes. That’s the branch of medicine focused on the musculoskeletal system (bones, muscles, joints, etc.). It originally dealt with the correction of skeletal deformities, but has had teeth care added due to the recent focus on dental health. There are also titles prefixed with neuro, originating from the Greek word neuron, meaning nerve or sinew. This prefix is used in many medical terms, probably the best known being neurology, the medical branch that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the brain, spinal cord and peripheral nerves.
I didn’t see one on the list that probably makes female and male ‘recipients’ of their services quake in their boots, or other places best not discussed - the dreaded proctologist! For those in whom this does not create a certain nervousness, a proctologist is a physician who specialises in the diagnosis and treatment of conditions affecting the colon, rectum and anus. While the title proctologist is still used, the more current and preferred term for this specialty is colorectal surgeon or colon and rectal surgeon. You have to love the English language! These specialists treat a variety of conditions, including haemorrhoids, abscesses, polyps and colon or rectal cancer. Need I say more.
Who cares, you say (if you have gotten this far into the article and not bailed out). Well I certainly did not until being treated by some. But when I was it seemed reasonable to me to understand what these specialists were actually going to do to me, or in a couple of cases had already done!
I didn’t see one on the list that probably makes female and male ‘recipients’ of their services quake in their boots, or other places best not discussed - the dreaded proctologist! For those in whom this does not create a certain nervousness, a proctologist is a physician who specialises in the diagnosis and treatment of conditions affecting the colon, rectum and anus. While the title proctologist is still used, the more current and preferred term for this specialty is colorectal surgeon or colon and rectal surgeon. You have to love the English language! These specialists treat a variety of conditions, including haemorrhoids, abscesses, polyps and colon or rectal cancer. Need I say more.
Who cares, you say (if you have gotten this far into the article and not bailed out). Well I certainly did not until being treated by some. But when I was it seemed reasonable to me to understand what these specialists were actually going to do to me, or in a couple of cases had already done!