By Henry Ehrlich
Dr. Ehrlich is going on vacation briefly in the lull between pollen season and camp appointments and a predictable wave of new patients. New York Magazine has published its annual list of top doctors, and once again he is one of the leading pediatric allergists in the five boroughs, which means the office phones will start ringing again. Two of the others are our friends Hugh Sampson and Scott Sicherer at Mount Sinai.
This is an annual event. Paul has made the list for more years than anyone has counted, but it remains a high point of the year because it means he is a “doctors’ doctor.”
CastleConnolly gives this explanation of its ratings:
“How does Castle Connolly decide which doctors are the best?
The firm conducts a peer-review survey. The idea is that medical professionals are best qualified to judge other medical professionals, and if one recommendation is good (think of your doctor referring you to a specialist), multiple recommendations are better. Licensed physicians vote online (castleconnolly.com/nominations) for those doctors they view as exceptional. Participating physicians are asked to nominate those doctors who, in their judgment, are the best in their field and related fields, taking into account not only professional qualifications and reputation (education, residency, board certification, hospital appointment, and disciplinary record, for example) but also skills in dealing with patients (listening and communicating effectively, demonstrating empathy, instilling trust and confidence). Doctors cannot nominate themselves, and all nominations are confidential. The Castle Connolly physician-led research team then tabulates the results and vets the nominee pool, confirming the doctors’ board certifications and licensing, and investigating their disciplinary histories.”
We have had a pretty good month at asthmaallergieschildren.com. Here are a few highlights.
First, we continue to have great content. One of our prized contributors Anne F. Russell, BSN, RN, AE-C returns to us with an interview with another contributor, Dr. Michael Pistener, about his innovative ideas on food allergy education. Welcome back, Anne and Michael. Please check out all their work for us.
Second, Larry and Paul have hard-hitting posts. Larry challenges a media-darling surgeon on the origins of the food allergy epidemic, and Paul analyzes the pitfalls of relying too heavily on “hard numbers” in allergy treatment. These posts all reflect our commitment to making the conversation around the broad range of allergic diseases as timely as the day’s headlines.
Third, Paul and I have both agreed to speak at the first-ever Food Allergy Blogger Conference in November. Thanks to organizer Jenny Sprague for reaching out.
And finally, a bit of personal recognition: Top food allergy blogger Caroline Moassessi of GratefulFoodie.com did a profile on yours truly and a follow-up on Larry’s post as an example of why she likes our website as much as she does. I admire her, too, because she shares our devotion to keeping up with current events, does original reporting, and because she does something we can’t do—that Mommy thing, for want of a better term. Thanks, Caroline.