<p>I am a regular poster who changed my user name for this, a somewhat sensitive question.</p>
<p>My daughter would benefit from breast reduction surgery, and we need to find a doctor. She attends college in the Boston area, while we live in a rural area with few medical options. So we'd like to find a surgeon in Boston.</p>
<p>Since we're not from Boston, or even close -- how would you recommend we go about this, finding a reputable and respected doctor? I want a doctor with lots of experience with this type of surgery, and would rather not rely on a Google search. </p>
<p>If anyone can recommend a specific doctor, please do -- you can PM me. I welcome any other advice about this, as well.</p>
<p>I don’t have a specific doctor to recommend, but you can contact the Massachusetts Medical Society for a referral. Her health services may also be able to give you one. There are also “find a doctor” search engines on the Mass. General Hospital and Tufts Medical Center websites. All of these physicians have staff privileges at the hospital so they’ve been “vetted.” Also there’s New England Medical Center, St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, Brigham & Womens, Beth Israel/Deaconess. She’s in the medical capital of the country - she can interview the physicians and ask about their experience.</p>
<p>If it were me, I’d start with Mass General.</p>
<p>The anesthesia is also important (anesthesiologist here), but standards of care were established decades ago taking this out of the things to worry about category.</p>
<p>There are pros and cons to a teaching hospital. The attending physician will be good in the field, the resident factor adds time to procedures. </p>
<p>Kudos to your D for getting this done. She will want to ask questions and base her decision on answers and how she is treated for her questions. It is important to establish how much tissue is removed- the ending bra cup size. The surgeon should be able to tell her how s/he goes about things- where the scars will be, etc.</p>
<p>Tell her she can drop a surgeon and search for another if she doesn’t like the way she is treated at the preop consultations or how things are to be done. It is important that she be comfortable with things. Sometimes young adults don’t realize they have the power to change physicians after the first visit.</p>
<p>What Chevda said about going through an established hospital first, then find an experience surgeon with privileges there. Agree about Mass General and Brigham and Women’s.</p>
<p>Will this be covered by insurance (are health issues - like back pain - the reason for the surgery)? If you are paying out of pocket then you might unfortunately find yourself priced out of the best hospitals, but it’s always worth investigating and negotiating a fee upfront.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone who commented here or sent me a PM. I’ve been away from the computer all day. This is all very helpful.</p>
<p>I have no idea whether this will be covered by insurance. She does have some back pain, but I don’t think it’s connected. We are assuming that we will be paying out of pocket but hoping that maybe the insurance will kick in. She graduates in May – I’m looking at this as though we are paying another semester of tuition.</p>