How to pick a gastroenterologist in Jalandhar
Every clinic in the city says it is the best one, and none of them tell you how to check. Here are the five things that actually separate a gastroenterologist from a doctor who treats stomachs — and the questions to ask to find out.
- DrNBGastroenterology — a super-speciality qualification, taken after MD
- AIG HyderabadWhere the super-speciality training was done
- 20,000+Endoscopic procedures performed to date
- 24 × 7Gastro ICU cover at Innocent Hearts Hospital
What actually separates one from another
Use these on any gastroenterologist you are considering, including this one. A specialist worth seeing will answer all five without getting defensive.
Is the qualification a super-speciality one?
MBBS and MD are general medicine. Gastroenterology is a separate three-year super-speciality on top of that — DM or DrNB. Plenty of doctors treat stomach problems; far fewer have actually trained in the field.
“Is your gastroenterology qualification DM or DrNB — and from where?”
How many scopes do they do, and where?
Endoscopy is a skill that decays without volume. A doctor doing a handful a month will miss things a doctor doing them daily will not. Ask for a number, not an adjective.
“Roughly how many endoscopies and colonoscopies do you do in a month?”
Where do they admit you if it goes wrong?
Most GI procedures are day-care. But bleeding, perforation and pancreatitis do happen, and then you need a bed, an ICU and blood — in the same building, not an ambulance ride away.
“If I bleed after this procedure tonight, where exactly do I go?”
Is there cover after the clinic closes?
A 6 pm procedure with no one reachable at 11 pm is a real risk. Ask who picks up the phone at night, and whether there is a gastro bed available at that hour.
“Who answers this number at midnight, and what happens next?”
Will they tell you when it is not a GI problem?
A good deal of “stomach pain” is cardiac, gynaecological, or musculoskeletal. A specialist who finds a way to make every complaint a GI complaint is a specialist who will eventually be wrong about yours.
“What would make you send me to a different specialist?”
When we are not the right place
A specialist who takes every case is not specialising. Four situations where you should be somewhere else — and we will tell you so at the first visit rather than after three of them.
You need surgery, not a scope
Gallbladder removal, hernia, appendix, bowel resection — those belong to a GI surgeon. We diagnose and refer; we do not operate.
You need a liver transplant assessment
Decompensated cirrhosis being worked up for transplant needs a transplant centre with a waiting list and a surgical team. We stabilise and refer to PGIMER or a transplant unit.
The patient is a child
Paediatric gastroenterology is its own field, with different doses, different scopes and different conditions. Under 14, you want a paediatric GI unit.
It is cancer that needs oncology
We can find a tumour on a scope and biopsy it. Chemotherapy, radiotherapy and cancer surgery are handled by an oncology team, and the sooner you are with them the better.
Looking for something else?
These four pages answer different questions. None of them repeat this one.
A liver protein, formulated by the same doctor
Dr. Ankit also formulated Hepatolean Advance Liver Pro+, a sugar-free liver-care protein, which is sold on a separate site at hepatolean.com. It is worth saying plainly on a page about choosing a doctor: a product does not make someone a better gastroenterologist, and you should not weigh it in the decision. Judge the five checks above instead.
Asked at the desk, most days
Is a DrNB in Gastroenterology the same as a DM?
What does the first consultation cost?
Do I need a referral from my family doctor?
Is there anyone else in Jalandhar doing this work?
How long does a first appointment take?
Two centres, one doctor
OPD hours are different at each. Check before you travel — and bring every old report you have, even the ones you think are useless.
GastroNova Clinic, GTB Nagar
448, GTB Nagar, opposite Prithvi Planet, Jalandhar 144003
Monday – Saturday5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Sunday9:00 am – 11:00 am
Innocent Hearts Hospital, Nakodar Road
Near Wadala Chowk, Nakodar Road, Jalandhar 144003
Monday – Saturday10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Gastro ICU24 × 7
Still deciding? Come with your questions and your old reports.
One number for both centres. If the answer turns out to be a different specialist, you will be told that at the first visit.