For a great many years, the concept of patient education was unknown or unimportant
to most doctors. Conventional wisdom was that the patient should put themselves
in the hands of an experienced doctor and simply let the doctor do what needed to
be done. Patients were not expected to have much knowledge about medical topics,
and doctors generally did not like to be questioned with regard to their diagnosis
and/or treatment recommendations.
Dr. Safir’s View on Patient Education
Dr. Safir takes a different view. He believes that an informed, educated patient
is an empowered patient - - a patient who has the knowledge to be able to make important
choices about their own health care. We do this in several ways:
This website is one major part of our effort to inform and educate our patients
about the entire range of urology topics. Here, we cover the potential causes of
various urological diseases and conditions, as well as the available treatments.
After you make an appointment to see Dr. Safir at our West Hills or Beverly Hills
urology offices, we will provide you with informative brochures about various urology
conditions during your visit.
During your appointment, Dr. Safir will be happy to answer any questions you might
have; he is sympathetic to what you’re going through and takes the time to fully
explain every condition, diagnostic test, and treatment that is relevant to your
individual case.
Why Do We Keep Emphasizing the Importance of Diagnosis?
In urology, as in many other medical specialties, there are many conditions that
can produce similar symptoms. Pelvic pain, for example, can be caused by many different
things, but a thorough medical history and exam, with the appropriate diagnostic
tests, is necessary to reveal the correct diagnosis.
All too often, our patients tell us they have essentially diagnosed themselves,
thinking their pain on urination was a simple urinary tract infection that would
resolve by drinking cranberry juice; that their
urinary incontinence was a result of drinking too much liquid or just an
inevitable part of getting older; or that their
erectile dysfunction was because of a deep-seated psychological problem.
These assumptions and attempts at self-diagnosis are usually incorrect, and such
patients are quite relieved to obtain an accurate diagnosis from Dr. Safir, because
then they can receive a truly appropriate, effective treatment.
In other cases, patients may have received a presumptive diagnosis from their primary
care physician. This diagnosis is not always correct or definitive; ambiguity may
result because most primary care physicians (general practitioners) simply do not
have the training, experience, and diagnostic equipment that urology specialists
like Dr. Safir are known for.
In summary, our message is simple: if you are having urological symptoms, don’t
just see your regular doctor – see a urologist and get diagnosed! You owe it to
yourself to get a definitive diagnosis from an expert in urology and urologic surgery.
When you make an appointment to see Dr. Safir, you can be assured you are not just
seeing any Los Angeles urologist – you’re seeing one of the best. Once you get an
accurate diagnosis, you can be sure that you are on the right track with treatment.