Fitness, Business, Fitness Business, & Achieving Life Goals

Last week I went see a orthopedic doctor, “the best shoulder guy in the state” according to most people. I had seen him three years back which resulted in a fairly advanced arthritis diagnosis. This time around, I went to see him about what I thought was going to be a torn rotator cuff in the same shoulder. When we finally sat down with x-rays and MRI at hand, he proceeded to lay out the situation. It appears I have a very large bone cyst in the head of the humerus (larger than he had ever seen) and a piece of the bone had broken and was pulled away by the rotator cuff. He said that wasn’t sure what could be done. He suspected that I would have to have a bone graft to create enough of a anchor to then replace the shoulder joint and went on to say that he wasn’t comfortable doing the repair. He then referred me to and set up the appointment with one of the best shoulder guys in Boston.

Let’s think about this. This Dr. just told me that my issues were out of his scope of abilities. He referred out. Sound familiar? I’ve heard many a Personal Trainer express their concern about turning people away by referrals to other professionals (Drs, PTs, RDs, or even other Trainers) and how that may make them seem less than capable.

Here’s the truth of it. The doctor talked to me, not at me, explained the situation fully, answered any questions I had, and in his caring, honest, sincere way, told me why he felt he needed to pass me on to someone else. How many surgeons (or Trainers) would think that this (something out of their scope of practice or ability) was an opportunity to try something new and give it a shot anyway? Why pass up the money? I trust, respect, and pledge my loyalty to this Dr. for his candor in this (his name is Donald P. Endrizzi, MD by the way) and will refer anyone I know that has a shoulder issue to him.

Being honest and sincere with people about what you can or can’t do and referring them to someone who’s specialty it is when you’re not as qualified, will only help to create greater trust in you. They will be more likely to come back to you when the issue is resolved, but even if they don’t, that impression that you’ve made on them by being selfless, will stick with them. They will talk about you and refer you. So don’t hesitate to refer out.

Note: We should always be building our network of professionals that we trust so we know who to refer to when something comes up that is out of our scope of practice or ability.