How Telemedicine Could Help Men’s Health: Brown Alpert Medical School’s Sigman LIVE
Smart Health on GoLocalProv
How Telemedicine Could Help Men’s Health: Brown Alpert Medical School’s Sigman LIVE
“It’s been known for a while that men don’t listen well, not just to their partners, but in terms of their health,” said Sigman, who has over 20 years of experience in the diagnosis and treatment of urologic and reproductive problems.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“If you look at the variety of general health measures, out of the top 10 causes of death in the U.S., on nine of them, men die more frequently of these cases, whether it's heart disease or you go down the list,” said Sigman. “And much of that’s reflected in that [men] don’t tend to seek medical care…unless they may not have a choice and that often is too late to avoid bad consequences.”
“I’m a Urologist by training, specialty in the urological aspects of men’s health, but I work with other internists that deal with the other medical issues and having done that has really brought to light this discrepancy in men’s attitudes towards preserving their health versus women’s and it's clearly been neglected by the medical profession as well as the patients,” he added.
Sigman spoke to how the medical field is addressing the issue, from discussing how lifestyle choices impact men’s overall health, to how telemedicine, utilized during the coronavirus crisis, can be of benefit.
“What we’ve discovered is for many, not all, but many of the issues we see in urology we can do remotely — we don’t always have to examine the patient,” said Sigman.
“I think we will learn over time what percent do we need to actually see in person,” he added. “But even if it’s thirty percent, twenty percent, it will allow us to maintain some of the lessons we learned with COVID - decompressing the office, spacing-out patients when they come in, have the healthcare providers not all bunched together and seeing patients all at the same time.”
Brown Urology recently announced that the urologists, physician assistants, and staff of Urological Specialists of New England (USNE) joined Brown Urology. Now, the combined group is the largest independent urology practice in New England and recognized as one of the top urology practices in the country.
About Smart Health -- and Alpert Medical School
Since granting its first Doctor of Medicine degrees in 1975, the Warren Alpert Medical School has become a national leader in medical education and biomedical research.
By attracting first-class physicians and researchers to Rhode Island over the past four decades, the Medical School and its seven affiliated teaching hospitals have radically improved the state's health care environment, from health care policy to patient care.
"Smart Health" is a GoLocalProv.com segment featuring experts from The Warren Alpert Medical School GoLocal LIVE.