TWR Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 Has anyone worked at the Low T clinics that have popped up in and around Houston or elsewhere? What is your opinion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newton9686 Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 Practice real medicine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuralER/Ortho Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 Practice real medicine I have no opinion on the T clinics.... but aren't you still a student? Seems like pretty strong opinion there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator True Anomaly Posted October 18, 2016 Moderator Share Posted October 18, 2016 Has anyone worked at the Low T clinics that have popped up in and around Houston or elsewhere? What is your opinion? Have never worked in one, nor honestly have I talked to someone who has, but my understanding is that it's akin to the phrase "To a hammer, everything is a nail". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newton9686 Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 I have no opinion on the T clinics.... but aren't you still a student? Seems like pretty strong opinion there... Yeah still a student, thus I usually reserve judgement on the B.S specializations of medicine, in public anyways. But a low T clinic?Really? Every man over 40 has "low t." Its called aging. Are their people with pathologies? Absolutely. Prolactinomas are one cause that come to mind. But this isn't medicine, this is fast food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sk732 Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 I seem to recall there was a thread about this earlier this year where we were slagging down these clinics as Burger Kings for Steroids. SK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reality Check 2 Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 Very similar to the HRT clinics for women boasting bioidentical and stating they are safer than synthetic. Hmmm, no. Low T is a catch phrase right now and this is probably a cash clinic. Testosterone replacement, just like HRT in women, has to be well thought out - weighted for risks and monitored closely, but not micromanaged by folks who are probably selling supplements and magic cures as well. I would say - NO - don't even think about it - it isn't real medicine when in the form of a storefront clinic. My opinion, it is an integrated part of FP or IM practice. That way you know the whole patient and you can make educated decisions about using T replacement and monitor the patient after explaining risks and unknowns - just like female HRT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceBanner Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 I almost worked for a low T clinic a few years back (different name, privately owned). They "specialized" in testosterone and ED. The model they used was PAs seeing 20 ppd and a urologist or FP who came in like 1/2 day a week and signed charts.Their money-maker was this penile injection called Trimix that they titrated and administered in-office. That and all their meds came from a compounding pharmacy and were dispensed in house (cha-ching). I got a little chummy with the owner since the clinic had yet to open and he was really trying to get me on board with his whole business plan. These places are crazy profitable; he came from a marketing firm and had zero experience in anything healthcare. His brother was an accountant for a sister clinic elsewhere and told him how much money they turned over. I ultimately said no because I judged it was a high-risk job for a young PA, and it is. Get into real medicine unless you just need a part-time gig that's very easy and low stress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWR Posted October 18, 2016 Author Share Posted October 18, 2016 thanks for the input. I agree. I will forward all of this good advice to my friend who asked me the question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbrsmurf Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 I'm a couple years out of FM, last I heard/read that the links between prostate cancer and breast cancer with testosterone and estrogen HRT, respectively, weren't as strong as previously thought. Is that still true? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceBanner Posted October 19, 2016 Share Posted October 19, 2016 No causative link between testosterone therapy and prostate cancer has ever been established. There is, of course, a contraindication to TRT with active prostate cancer. The big question that still needs defining is whether or not TRT causes an increase in CVD. Studies to date are mostly done in elderly men and have some confounding variables. No idea about breast CA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FiremedicMike Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 I was a patient at a local Low-T clinic for about 6 months (switched to my employee health center). There's no way I would want that job. The PA would literally walk in, ask how I was doing, and say "ok, I'll send the MA in with your shot". Seemed to be a very unfulfilling job, IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JMPA Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 if you want to treat low t than i would recommend doing endocrinology Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myironlung Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 haven't worked there but considered it. Sounds like easy money, stress free work, Work to live. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reality Check 2 Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 haven't worked there but considered it. Sounds like easy money, stress free work, Work to live. Just consider the set up and focus. ALWAYS DO GOOD MEDICINE. Do not do 7-11, Burger King drive through medicine. ALL interventions have potential consequences and long term ramifications. Nothing is without side effect. Quality not quantity. The patient is a person who deserves your best medical effort and not just a drive through wave and a shot. Just my crusty old 2 cents................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newton9686 Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 This is the problem with the "work to live" people. If your ultimate priority is yourself, you are attracted to the money without real medicine practices. Obviously your most important patient in medicine is yourself, but the second should be sick people or poor people or needy people or just another human being for God's sake. Not your boat or leisure lifestyle. And not to pick on boat owners. I want a boat one day. I really just want people to actually come to work when you are suppose to and give a hoot when they are there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cboylb Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 I worked in a Low T Clinic for about 8 months. Here are the basics: Good money (90-150K depending on how busy the clinic is), but they will probably expect you to work up to 55hrs/week. In the busy clinics you may see 50-70 patients/day, but the visits are very brief, so it's more doable than it may sound. You treat one thing and one thing only, so you get really good at treating low test, but it gets a little monotonous after a while, but there is some pleasure in not fretting over diagnoses/missed diagnoses and the simplicity of it all. Your title will be "clinic director" but don't be fooled, you may be in charge of day to day operation of the clinic, but you are still very much an employee, and there is a very structured protocol on how things are to be done. The company is owned by a business man, not a medical professional, and it is evident in the way the company is run. On the medical side: testosterone has a certain reputation, and it isn't always positive in the medical community. But I have personally seen it change men's lives. Some guys will come in dragging, desperate for answers on why they feel like they do. Then after a few months they feel like a different person. It can be very satisfying work. They have a very structured protocol, and it follows recommendations by professional societies. They do not jack up the testo levels to unsafe levels. Conclusion: If you are feeling burned out by your current job, Low T center may be a good change of pace for a couple years, but don't expect it to be a lifelong career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myironlung Posted October 21, 2016 Share Posted October 21, 2016 Just consider the set up and focus. ALWAYS DO GOOD MEDICINE. Do not do 7-11, Burger King drive through medicine. ALL interventions have potential consequences and long term ramifications. Nothing is without side effect. Quality not quantity. The patient is a person who deserves your best medical effort and not just a drive through wave and a shot. Just my crusty old 2 cents................... did I say anything about drive through medicine? This is the problem with the "work to live" people. If your ultimate priority is yourself, you are attracted to the money without real medicine practices. Obviously your most important patient in medicine is yourself, but the second should be sick people or poor people or needy people or just another human being for God's sake. Not your boat or leisure lifestyle. And not to pick on boat owners. I want a boat one day. I really just want people to actually come to work when you are suppose to and give a hoot when they are there. it's fine to have that opinion, but people can have whatever their motivation to come to work, whether that be money or because they want to save the world, there is no right answer, but you seem to think there is. And your last sentence doesn't make sense, i'm not sure why money and the working to live attitude has any effect on "coming to work when you're supposed to". As long as they get the job done, who are you to judge? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newton9686 Posted October 21, 2016 Share Posted October 21, 2016 did I say anything about drive through medicine? it's fine to have that opinion, but people can have whatever their motivation to come to work, whether that be money or because they want to save the world, there is no right answer, but you seem to think there is. And your last sentence doesn't make sense, i'm not sure why money and the working to live attitude has any effect on "coming to work when you're supposed to". As long as they get the job done, who are you to judge?T Try to get a surgeon who is on call to come in at 2am in the morning for someone that needs immediate intervention and you'll know what I'm talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reality Check 2 Posted October 21, 2016 Share Posted October 21, 2016 iron lung - Sorry you took offense. This entire thread from experienced folks has pretty much pointed out that these clinics are cash cow clinics often owned by nonmedical people who want to cash in. It was pointed out that the clinics are high volume which means short appts. Too short of an appt in my book means less than adequate coverage of important topics and details. I personally would not work in boutique medicine or store front specialty clinics, particularly designed to be cash makers. These types of clinics stereotypically do not practice good medicine or thorough medicine based on volume. They are not primary care providers who manage the whole patient. If folks want to work there for the cash - so be it - BUT, I am offended for my profession if my colleagues participate in operations such as these that focus solely on money and volume and often do not take care of the whole patient or use the medical arts and sciences we were taught. Regardless of setting, I firmly believe health care providers are bound ethically to actually practice GOOD medicine. This tenant combined with a cash store front clinic do not mesh in my opinion as a good medicine practice. They are all too often the subject of news stories, investigations, closures and lawsuits. In my opinion, these types of clinics are not ethical and fraught with disaster. My take and my take only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.