Digestive Services
Overview: Who needs a gastroenterologist anyway?
With the dawn of the new millennium there came a dramatic shift in the role played by the gastroenterologist in the delivery of health care to our nation. Previously only a small minority of people would ever seek the specialty care of a gastroenterologist. Our skills and training were intended to help the primary care physician diagnose and treat disorders that were often complex or unusual, or that might be straightforward but necessitated the performance of procedures that required years of specialized training to master. But since 2000, the gastroenterologist has become someone that everybody is expected to see, at least by the age of fifty, as one might a dentist or barber, though not with the same frequency. The reason for this change was the recognition that almost everyone could benefit from having a colonoscopy performed for the early detection and prevention of colorectal cancer. We have continued to serve in our original role of providing sub-specialty expertise in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disorders of the digestive system (the esophagus, stomach, pancreas, gallbladder, liver, small intestine, colon, rectum and anus), while now providing access to everybody age 50 and over (and younger in special circumstances) for their initial screening and subsequent surveillance colonoscopies
Have you come to this website because you think you may need a screening colonoscopy OR because you think you may benefit from a consultation with Dr. Cherner to address persistent symptoms that concern you? Or are you here perhaps at the recommendation of your primary care or other physician? To schedule consultations other than those related to screening colonoscopies, simply call the office, and download and submit the Patient Information Forms Package found under the heading “Patient Forms.” A click on “Conditions Treated” provides a list of conditions for which a gastroenterologist is the expert, and “Other Procedures” directs you to a list of those procedures other than colonoscopy offered by this practice which may be appropriate to perform in order to most efficiently diagnose and treat your condition. To better understand whether it is a “screening” or “surveillance” colonoscopy that you need, or whether a colonoscopy may be a test that Dr. Cherner thinks may be needed to answer a question about the cause of your symptoms or of abnormal test results,, click on Screening Colonoscopy to learn what that term means and whether or not that is appropriate for your situation.
 "Catch a Killer: Get Screened for Colon Cancer" |