​

SERVICES

After reviewing your medical history and current problem, I will connect you with the  appropriate specialist/surgeon or hospital/clinic. I have personally travelled to multiple sites in Europe, South Africa and the U.S., and any recommendations I make are based on my own site visits and/or personal experiences with trusted colleagues.

However, post-op care remains a challenge, and this is where I come in.  I provide the initial screening and examination, as well as liaising for all relevant medical records and results, including radiology (X-rays, ultrasound, etc).  

I am also able to provide post-operative care, which is probably the most crucial aspect.

 

Screening patients was and remains relatively easy, and I'm not for or against any particular treatment. Generally, after looking at the benefit vs. risk scenario (for each patient, individually, because everyone's different), I believe that whatever treatment we offer, it has to work, it has to be cost-effective and it has to be safe. A fourth option that is becoming more of a commodity is the concept of "timely" treatment.

 

TIMELY MEDICAL CARE​​​​​​​​

Healthcare in Canada is amazing for serious conditions and emergencies, but in most other scenario's, the waitlists for specialists are getting longer and longer.

If asked, I can give you multiple case scenario's and show you specialist acceptance letters that have taken over 3-5 years before the patient was finally seen, only to be told "there's nothing the specialist can do, and to go back to their Family Physician". This is happening over and over and over again, and this is after I have done everything I possibly can before referring to a specialist.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

For the most part, this places an increased burden on the public healthcare system and Family Physicians, who do their best to manage increasing pain, worsening mobility and the extensive psychological toll this has on patients who are told to "just wait." These patients feel trapped in their circumstances, and that's one of the worst feelings a human can experience.

​

EMBRACING NEW TECHNOLOGIES, HERE AND ABROAD

I freely admit to a mild- to moderate obsession with healthcare in sci-fi movies and TV shows. Growing up, I vividly remember being captivated by Star Trek's use of technology and I long for the day when Medical Tricorders are an actual thing! Although I think the design aesthetics could be streamlined.

​

​

​

​

​

​​

​

​

​

​

 

​

Now bear in mind that the physician who invented what became the modern stethoscope, was mocked initially.

Looking back in time, who would have thought that Digoxin, used to treat heart failure, was first derived from the Foxgloves plant. We used to drill holes in patient's heads for their migraines ("trepanation") and now I inject Botox, the same molecule that once was considered a deadly bacterial toxin in nature, with amazing success to reduce frequency and severity of migraines.

In Canada, mammograms are now using A.I. to read images and find microscopic, worrisome changes earlier than ever. Stem cell injections aren't available yet in Canada, but a family member of mine has had phenomenal results from these injections in South Afria, ie. that have renegerated his joint cartilage.

​

We have to embrace technology, and at no point in history has one country dominated research, ie. innovation is not linear, nor is it confined by borders. Medical terminology is littered with buzzwords and diagnoses and techniques with the names of doctors and scientist from every continent for the past few hundred years.

Medical breakthroughs have and always will remain a combined human endeavour, and I firmly believe that embracing  global partnerships is the way forward... for the benefit of our patients. 

​

HOW THIS ALL STARTED

Due to increasing surgical wait-times in Canada, I've assisted multiple patients to travel to many countries over the years for various surgeries and procedures. Not by my own recommendations, but because I was getting asked, more and more. At their own requests, I have had many of my own patients attend various international hospitals (Europe, the United States and South Africa) over the past few years for surgery and procedures, ranging from orthopaedic to ENT, and their experience was excellent. Now, out-of-country healthcare seems to be on the map with increasing popularity, as a desirable option for surgery through medical tourism.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

​

A wonderful example is through my colleagues at SanaLink Health Solutions, offering world-class, efficient and affordable solutions in Romania through the MedLife Polisano Clinic and Hospital in Sibiu, north of Bucharest.

 

MY BACKGROUND

My name is Dr Adrian Anderton. I am a complex care physician (General Practitioner) in Canada (Calgary, Alberta), and specialist in Family Medicine, registered with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta, and member of the South Calgary Primary Care Network.

I'm originally from South Africa (with specialty training in ER/trauma there and in England), with a special interest for over 25+ years in polymorbidity management, high-risk intervention, acute and chronic pain, mental health, therapeutic Botox, and Travel Medicine.

After graduating medical school in 2001, and completing my internship and community service training in South Africa, I worked in England as a Resident Medical Officer and Hospitalist, prepping pre-op patients and caring for them post-op. I then worked as a Senior House Officer in Emergency Medicine in South Africa, with additional A+E Registrar training in the UK.

I was also a regular surgical assistant in Cape Town (South Africa) for various surgeons, assisting in routine and complex general, orthopaedic and gynaecological surgeries in private hospitals. From 2009, I worked in Northern Alberta as an ER physician, hospitalist and family physician before opening my own family medical clinic in Calgary in in 2012.

 

LOCALIZATION

If you Google the medical issues we face in Canada, you'll get a variety of opinions. If your experience with healthcare so far has been positive, or if you're happy to wait and you aren't suffering, then this website isn't for you. 

In Alberta, I am so grateful to work in a healthcare system that does provide thorough healthcare, especially for emergencies and more serious conditions.

However, a major gap is the "grey area's", where the pain "isn't that bad", the cancer "isn't confirmed yet", where mobility "isn't yet significantly compromised." 

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

​

​

​

Sadly, while waiting, my patients often do worsen. So then yes, they're triaged at a higher urgency level but sometimes the damage is too far gone.

Rather than waiting for things to worsen, I'm aiming at being proactive and preventative and where all else fails, at least to catch things early.

Where the system also struggles is where there's a diagnostic dilemma and patients are told they "don't fit into a checkbox or flowsheet", or where the patient themselves are too complicated for the surgeon's and anaesthetist's comfort levels and risk tolerance. Again, the burden falls back onto the primacy care providers.

 

SO WHY TRAVEL OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE?

This option of travelling for medical care is not for everyone.  Not everyone can afford private medical services, not just in Canada but anywhere in the world. We must never take away the public healthcare system. For those who have no choice, I have every hope that we'll figure this out, so that patients can be treated closer to their Medical Home.... but how long will this take? Patients are suffering now, and I have dedicated my life to the alleviation of suffering. I do everything I possibly can (from medications to injections to psychiatric counselling), but patients need options.

 

​

​

​​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Where others see frustrations and delays, I look for opportunities, and in doing so I believe the public healthcare system is alleviated and someone else can move up on the list.

 

NEXT STEPS

If you're interested, the next step is just to chat with me in-office, and explore the various options. You can phone and speak to my clinic manager Melanie, email her (details at the bottom of this website) or complete the form below.