<p>I thought Ben Carson only did pediatric neurosurgery? Or at least that's his specialty. I assume he has a busy schedule with flying around the world to separate siamese twins who are conjoined at the head.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>What better source do you have that says Duke's neurosurgery program is worth going to?<<</p> </blockquote>
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<p>Is the National Cancer Institute's peer review group good enough for you? They gave the brain tumor center at Duke their highest rating.</p>
<p>This thread is very indicative of the general ignorance of most of the public when it comes to specialized medical care.</p>
<p>There are many peculiar types of disease, ones in which the world expert is not likely to be at one of your "name" medical centers - he or she may not even be at the top medical center for that particular disease. </p>
<p>For example, the research team which originally demonstrated the overwhelming support for combination therapy of Rheumatoid Arthritis, a therapy which is now the gold standard of treatment for the disease is based at the University of Nebraska - a hospital not even listed by US News in their ranking for Rheumatology centers.</p>
<p>Likewise, the physician who proved the hereditary nature of cancer - Dr. Henry Lynch (who has a syndrome named after him) - has been a long time professor of medicine at Creighton University. Before his work, it was accepted fact that cancer had no genetic component.
Hereditary</a> Cancer Institute :: Creighton University</p>
<p>Likewise a place like Vanderbilt may be extremely well known as a transplant center, but that doesn't mean it excels at every single transplant surgery. I'm willing to bet that you can find multiple hospitals that do a better job than Vanderbilt in every single type of transplant they [Vanderbilt] perform, but Vanderbilt gets recognized because they do a great job in so many different surgeries. But the question becomes - do you want to go to "great" or the best?</p>
<p>The point is, this board (as usual) makes too much out the reputation of certain schools. The automatic assumption of many is that certain schools must be the end all and be all of everything when that's simply not the case. I won't even get into the fact that medical school rankings are very different than undergrad rankings...</p>
<p>Didn't Teddy Boy get kicked out of Harvard for unethical behavior?</p>
<p>Some of our alumni and recruiters state that many companies also look down upon Harvard grads as they seem arrogant and do not work as hard as some of the other top school grads. Likewise, they are also not smarter or more effective at their work as some would think. To reject someone just because they went to Harvard, or any college for that matter, is quite unreasonable.</p>
<p>Yes on TK. Cheating actually by paying a friend to take a text. 1 year suspension.</p>
<p>As for choosing a doctor - it doesn't matter nearly as much where he/she went to undergrad or med school - as it does where the physician did his/her residency/fellowship.</p>
<p>C'mon people, the guy just had brain surgery for aggressive cancer. Give him a break....geez, heartless.</p>
<p>Ted Kennedy is a retard. In so many ways.</p>
<p>The Question is , would Teddy have the same ability to select Friedman if UHC was implemented? Would we ? I doubt it!</p>
<p>Teddy would, as UHC is an insurance proposal, and does not preclude selection of your physician of choice if you are willing to pay for it. As for you, depends on your budget. If it is insufficient to pay for neurosurgery out-of-pocket, you will no doubt be resentful that Teddy gets his choice and you do not. However, if your income is such that you cannot afford any health insurance, I imagine you would be willing to accept neurosurgery from a physician who accepts UHC compensation.</p>
<p>I'm sure Ted Kennedy and his family made a very well informed decision for his care. No one should be blasting any hospital or even suggest that $ was an issue. He went to the place where HE thought was best for HIM. </p>
<p>Let's all wish him the best! Much prayer to the Kennedy family</p>
<p>As a neurosurgeon, I have to weigh in here.</p>
<p>First, the type of tumor he probably has is called glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), grade 4 astrocytoma or glioma. This tumor is (almost) always fatal. The median survival is under one year. In fact, if someone survives more than a couple of years, you actually have to reconsider the original diagnosis and re-review the biopsy results. Surgery of any sort has very very little impact, other than to get a biopsy and a diagnosis. "Debulking" or partial removal of the tumor can provide some limited benefit by relieving mass effect or pressure on the nearby structures. The area of his tumor was evidently very critical, and that is why they did an 'awake' craniotomy...they directly stimulated the brain and recorded whether the area of what they were removing was a 'critical' part for speech and/or motor function. In all likelihood, not a lot of tumor was actually removed beyond a limited biopsy or 'debulking'. We will probably never know because they will probably never show his actual preop and postop MRI. The surgeon that actually did the procedure offers 'hope'...not a cure.... Perhaps in the future, with immunotherapy and gene therapy, we can have a better chance. In fact, Duke has been involved with one of these early trials, which might be the real reason he ended up there....</p>
<p>Second, many posters are correct in that almost any major center could have performed what was likely done in this surgery. It is laughable to think that a 'Harvard' neurosurgeon would be better equipped to deal with this than a 'Duke' neurosurgeon, or a 'Penn' neurosurgeon, or even an 'NYU' neurosurgeon, or someone that went to a 'state school' or vice-versa. There are a couple of neurosurgeons in the country that might be super-subspecialized enough that I would consider them one notch above another for certain procedures. But...in this particular case, it would be hard to demonstrate.</p>
<p>Third, I have heard through the grapevine that MGH really did not want to be the center to do this surgery. Can you imagine the situation if something catastrophic happened (which, of course, could have....it is brain surgery) ??? It would be DECADES before the public in the Boston area forgot about this....we STILL remember Chappaquiddick, correct?</p>
<p>Tip: If you are diagnosed with GBM...gather your family and friends for a huge party, then go buy your airline tickets to a warm caribbean island, or a trip around the world, and enjoy your last few good months.</p>
<p>OK, you've convinced me. Harvard must really suck.</p>
<p>^^</p>
<p>Nope...not the point at all. Every top tier medical center has things they do very well. But, just to say that someone who trained at XXX or is on staff at XXX is better than someone on staff at State U. is ridiculous.</p>
<p>I'm confused as to why this thread is here... are you guys selecting college choices based on where Kennedy had surgery? Thankfully it turned out well by the way. </p>
<p>For the record, I'm sure his family and his doctors advised him well on where to go. I would think (and hope) that they know more about the situation and competent surgeons than you (and your USNWR rankings). :)</p>
<p>Thanks for your post, CDK.</p>
<p>What struck me about the situation was the fact that Arnold S. said that the tumor was 'inoperable'. Apparently Senator Kennedy was told it was inoperable. And yet he found an innovative team to do the surgery. I find it amazing that someone with the stature and money of Sen. Kennedy apparently had to go looking for himself for the best care.</p>
<p>^A good reminder that we all need to do our own health research. I needed a pituitary growth removed several years ago, and the first neurosurgeon I saw said he couldn't remove it all because of its size and location. What he didn't tell me was that there was another surgeon at the same hospital who could remove it completely - I had to find him myself. Oh, and my HMO diid pay for it all!</p>