M Law,
Traveling techs are a big problem in this field.
Most doctors who hire them have no idea who these people really are or what their backgrounds are. Regardless, these doctors hire them to work on the scalps of their unsuspecting patients. This is a violation of patient trust that boarders on the criminal IMO.
How would you like it if during a your procedure you found out that one or more of the techs working on you was a stranger to the practice and to the doctor himself? That the person didn't live in that area and had no allegience to that doctor or practice? That if things got rough, they could just disappear without any accountability? Not a comforting feeling, is it?
Traveling techs are by nature part-timers. That is unacceptable in a field that requires daily practice to not only maintain skill level, but to improve.
Teamwork is at the very heart of any successful endevour. The very best clinics in the world have teams of techs who have worked with each other for years.
Traveling techs, in sharp contrast, are loners who can't work in true teams because they are never in one clinic with the same people long enough. Such techs are usually considered to be "intruders" and are usually shunned.
How good would the NY Giants be if they created a team of traveling players who hardly know each other just before each game and never practiced together? It would be a disaster. And so it goes with traveling HT techs.
The traditional "doctor- employee" relationship is inverted when it comes to traveling techs. They are in the driver's seat, not the doctor. It is they who dictate the details of a procedure, not the other way around. And of course it could be no other way since the doctor has absolutely no idea beforehand what skill level that tech can operate at. This is unacceptable.
In the end, it comes down to the individual. I happen to believe that the best techs are the ones who work EVERY day in the same setting with the same team. They have a veseted interest in the practice and have already found their social and professional niche within the pack of the HT team. Just through daily observation and feedback from other techs the doctor knows the actual skill level of each tech and can tailor the procedures to take advantage of each person's strengths. Because Traveling techs are unknowns, such quality control cannot be applied. Growth and improvement are near impossible.
I personally would not go to ANY business or clinic that needs to use, or chooses to use, these unaccountable roaming part-time employees. I also believe that such people contracting themselves out as licensed professionals across state lines is also a violation of law and should be looked into.
Finally, I think ALL clinics who use these traveling techs should be required by law to disclose this to their patients individually in writing AND on their websites. Patients should know before hand that while the doctor may have X number of years of experience, that the techs he uses are inexperienced strangers who have not worked as a team.
When a tech is good, real good, they are enticed to stay with one practice. If a tech can't find a job near their home because there are no successful practices in the area, then their skill level suffers from lack of practice and guided training. These are the traveling techs. So they will hire themselves out to doctors far away for high pay. But they may only perform 3 or 4 procedures in a month. How do you think that compares to the quality tech who works for the same doctor with the same team for 8 surgeries per week every week for years? No contest.
Remember everyone, it's YOUR scalp, and you only get one in this lifetime. Make sure the staff working on your scalp are a well oiled and experienced TEAM who has worked together for years and are people the doctor knows in depth. There are plenty of them out there. ASK your perspective doctor to put in WRITING the experience of his team. If he doesn't, get out and don't look back.
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