Dr.Sompob Sansiri’s Review: The Myth of the Overseas Quack

May 9, 2012 - PRLog -- The American medical community has long stood as the standard-bearer for the practice of medicine throughout the world. The narrative has long been that those who seek the best medical care from the best doctors and medical staffs in the world would have to go there in order to do so.

“While it’s true that American health care standards are still, in many respects, the highest in the world, the notion that one absolutely must travel to the United States in order to receive quality care is patently false,” said Dr.Sompob Sansiri, the lead plastic surgeon at SP Clinic.

Furthermore, the relative cost of medicine in America is much, much higher than in many other countries and, as such, the procedures you seek to have done might well be better done right here in Thailand.

The primary line of argument for people going to the United states to have cosmetic surgery done is, generally, speaking, that America retains the best physicians in the world. The issue is not, however, whether a physician chooses to practice medicine in America; the issue is whether that physician has been accredited by leading institutions from countries with rigorous qualifications.

Operational costs in the United States are prohibitively high for a huge number of people. The issue of prohibitive health costs are so high that their current president recently pushed through sweeping legislation to correct the problem. The law that administration passed, called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, was so controversial that their administration’s political opposition immediately branded the law with his name as a sort of epithet. The law, which has yet to go completely into effect, has proven so controversial that no court less than their Supreme Court recently heard arguments as to whether it would stay permanent. Part of the reason that this law was passed was to combat these prohibitive prices. Many doctors in America have long justified their high prices of their procedures by suggesting that the care a person could get on our own shores here in Asia is sub-par.

On the other hand, we here in Thailand have a far lower cost of living than in America, and many of our physicians– Dr. Sansiri included– have been dully accredited by many of their top guilds and institutions. We don’t meant o dispute whether the quality care is better or worse given a specific nationality, though it’s quite true that some countries have looser medical safety regulations than others; what’s most important in this discussion is how well a given physician is accredited and by whom. Keep in mind that any physician who seeks membership for a given organization must pass that organization’s qualifications in order to be so associated. After those requirements are met, the physician is free to practice where he pleases given that he meets the qualifications in the country in which he resides. In Dr. Sansiri’s case, he is a member in good standing of the American Academy of Aesthetic Medicine, the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery, and the American Society of Hair Restoration Surgery, among many other highly-accredited associations that can be readily viewed on his website.

While he’s a part of these organizations and in good standing with all of them, he’s unencumbered by the high cost of operation (and, in the specific case of the recently contested law, insurance fees) associated with the United States. Those savings are consequently passed onto his patients. The benefit of choosing a physician like Dr. Sansiri, then, is that one can save themselves the cost of travel, lodging, and medical expenses normally associated with the United States while enjoying the benefit of care associated with that country.

“One should be sure to be careful about the physician in whom they trust their care, many of the aspects of which have been covered elsewhere on this site and will continue to be as new issues arise,” added Dr.Sompob Sansiri.

It’s also of note that, just because a medical practice might offer rock-bottom prices for a given procedure, that doesn’t necessarily mean that that doctor is the best one for your specific operation. Simply know that, just because the American media machine is very good at touting its own medical prowess, doesn’t meant hat one has to spend an American level of money for anything they want done.

For more information, please visit www.sp-cosmeticsurgery.com