If you’ve been diagnosed with cancer, figuring out how to choose an oncologist can be overwhelming. The questions that bombard you while thinking about your diagnosis are endless. Are there even any oncologists near me? Will I have to travel far to get care? You might not even know what to ask an oncologist. The following steps are designed to help you get care and guide you through the tough decisions ahead.
Steps to Choosing an Oncologist
1. Decide What You Need in a Doctor
In thinking about your diagnosis, as well as your prognosis, you want to consider what you need in a doctor. Determine if you’re looking for a more holistic approach or if you prefer medical treatment only. How much does bedside manner matter to you? Is your cancer complex and requires consultations with several oncologists? By focusing on your needs from a medical perspective—and as a person—you may be able to decide what you need and be better equipped to choose a doctor.
2. Ask Your Primary Care Physician for a Referral
Once you’ve received a diagnosis, your primary care physician will likely refer you to a trusted oncologist. They may have an idea as to which doctors treat that specific type of cancer. However, while your primary care doctor may offer you several great options, you may still wonder how to choose an oncologist—but that’s not a bad thing. You will want to evaluate several options.
3. Choose Several Options to Evaluate
Along the path of figuring out how to choose an oncologist, it’s important to give yourself options. Once you are armed with recommendations from your primary doctor, you may want to assemble additional options to review.
Meet with those doctors and see what their recommendations are for treatment plans. If the treatment plans are similar, you can then narrow down which doctor’s bedside manner you prefer, whether their practice treats the whole person or just the cancer, and if they offer additional resources, such as behavioral oncology to handle the emotional aspect of a cancer diagnosis.
4. Look for a Treatment Center
While it is important to have a medical oncologist you can trust, you may want to consider what a treatment center with multidisciplinary approaches can do for you. Treatment centers like The Cancer & Hematology Centers are great options for holistic treatment because they provide not only leading-edge medical treatment to help you fight your cancer but also resources like behavioral oncology and clinical trials to treat you as a whole person.
5. Ask About Credentials & Experience
When evaluating the options for a medical oncologist, you’ll want to look at the physician’s credentials and experience. Did they have a fellowship where they received additional training and education; if so, where? How long have they been treating your particular type of cancer? Do they attend conferences and stay current with the latest in treatment options? You can learn this information through online research about the oncologists you’re evaluating or by asking them directly during your first meeting.
6. Compare Your Options
Once you have a variety of options before you, including treatment centers and oncologists, you will want to compare what you have learned about your options to determine which is the most practical, feasible, and best choice for you as a person. Compare which treatment options make the most sense to you, which options use your insurance, and if your gut led you to any of the options more than another.
7. Get a Second Opinion
Even though you might have chosen an oncologist you’re happy with, we encourage you to obtain a second opinion. A preliminary meeting is great, but it might not give you the full picture of what you can expect. You may have simply chosen your treating oncologist based on your referral or research you’ve done online. No matter how you came to your choice, it is important to get a fully informed second opinion to have the best odds at successful treatment and recovery.
8. Consider Clinical Trials
If you’ve faced cancer before and had treatment, you may be limited in the traditional options you have available to fight your current diagnosis. This is where clinical trials can be extraordinarily helpful. Having access to the latest and best treatment available through clinical trials is important in giving you more possibilities for treatment.
9. Trust Your Instincts
When you’re facing a cancer diagnosis, the process of finding and starting treatment is a lot to take on. It’s emotionally difficult, scary, and physically challenging. That is why it’s most important for you to trust your instincts. Be comfortable and confident in your treatment plan so you can have a positive outlook.
We’re Here for Your Whole Journey
If you’ve been diagnosed with cancer and are struggling with how to choose an oncologist, we can help. Contact The Cancer & Hematology Centers today to get compassionate care and treatment.