I am an Interventional Thyroidologist. While I am an Endocrinologist by training, I have dedicated the vast majority of my career to the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid disease. My practice is focused on thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer, although my practice also provides comprehensive care for all types of thyroid disease. An Interventional Thyroidologist uses the most advanced non-surgical techniques to treat thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer. Patients who in the past would have required surgery, can now be treated in the office with little more than a percutaneous (through the skin) needle stick. A cutting edge procedure now available in the United states called Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) uses high frequency radio waves to destroy thyroid tissue. It does not require general anesthesia or hospitalization and does not leave a scar. This technique can be used to treat the majority of benign thyroid nodules that cause symptoms or are cosmetically unappealing. While an Interventional Thyroidolgist is not a surgeon, we are more qualified to treat all other aspects of thyroid disease and the care of thyroid patients from diagnosis, managing medications, thyroid imaging, radiation treatments, and non-surgical thyroid procedures than any other single physician available today in the US.

The field of medicine is exploding with information. From genetic testing, new medications, to new procedures, there has never been a growth of medical information such as there is today. The knowledge available to physicians is growing exponentially. As far back as 2011 it was predicted that the doubling time of medical knowledge would take just 73 days, or just a touch over 2 months by the 2020s. In the 1950s and 1960’s black bag era of medicine, medical knowledge doubled every 50 years; in 1980, 7 years; and in 2010, 3.5 years. I “completed” my training in 2007, so if we use the 2010 numbers of 3.5 years, Medical knowledge has doubled about four times over since I completed fellowship and I have seen nothing to suggest that this prediction of doubling time of medical information is not accurate.

As this medical knowledge has expanded, I have elected to concentrate my practice of medicine specifically on thyroid and parathyroid disease. By narrowly focusing my practice on a very limited and highly specialized field exclusively, I am able to incorporate the latest technology, procedures, and techniques to the management of these conditions. With the beginning of the era of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in the US, in many cases patients with thyroid nodules and even thyroid cancer will have less and less of a need to see a surgeon as part of their care. Surgery is truly becoming the treatment of last resort except in the cases of thyroid cancer. That being said, when you need thyroid surgery, you should not just see any surgeon, you should see a thyroid surgeon, preferably after evaluation by an Interventional Thyroidologist and all other options have been exhausted. So if you have a thyroid problem, especially thyroid nodules or thyroid cancer, you should not just see an Endocrinologist. You should see a Thyroidologist. If you can, you should see an Interventional Thyroidologist.