OUR FOUNDER & PRESIDENT:

Dr. Jackson Gates, MD

Our founder, Dr. Jackson Gates, is a native of Atlanta, Georgia, who attended Morehouse College for undergraduate studies in Biology/Pre-medicine under the tutelage of Dr. J. K. Haynes. 

Science Prodigy: While just a junior high school student, Dr. Gates met Dr. Haynes and began doing research in Dr. Hayne's laboratory at Morehouse College, along-side graduate students, Drs. Carl and Patricia Floyd of Atlanta University, regarding characterization of  band 4.1  in sickled erythrocyte membrane proteins.  Dr. Gates continued those research investigations throughout the four years of attending Morehouse College.  Prior to attending Morehouse College, Dr. Gates discovered his talents in science doing several research investigations that led to over twenty-eight (28) awards nationally, including Emory University Scientist Assistant Researcher under Dr. Darryl Stokes, and  other awards including those from the Army and Air-Force, recognizing his success in scientific investigations.  While an undergraduate student and just after completing his undergraduate studies during the summer months in preparations to attend medical school, Dr. Gates attended classes at Brown University in Rhode Island,  and the Centers for Disease Control (Masters of Public Health) in Atlanta, Georgia.  

Medical Training:Dr. Gates completed his general medical training at Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, Georgia.  Dr. Gates is a board-certified, licensed general practitioner (physician) with vast experience and expertise in pathology, laboratory medicine, and general clinical medicine.  Since completing his general pathology and laboratory medicine training at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, and a brief internship in Family Medicine Practice at Medical Center of Central Georgia, in Macon, Georgia, his general clinical medical practice as well as laboratory medical practice experiences have included solo and group practices in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Wyoming.

Serving the under-privileged:He returned home in 2010 to open a general medical practice to service primarily patients in his old neighborhood community on Cleveland Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia.

EXPERIENCE YOU CAN DEPEND ON: 

-Over eighteen (18) years of quality experience in community medical practice including direct patient care evaluation, treatment, and management since completing medical school. 

-Routinely receives communication from patients and doctors alike, regarding general health care questions and questions regarding specific diagnostic medical laboratory evaluation from a variety of medical specialists

-Previous active medical staff membership at a number of community hospitals in Georgia, Florida, and Wyoming.

-Quality experience as medical director at several community hospital medical laboratories and  independent medical laboratories which would include Camden Medical Center, Saint Marys, Georgia, Riverton Memorial Hospital, Riverton Wyoming, Doctors Laboratory Inc, Valdosta, Georgia, Smith-Northview Hospital, Valdosta, Georgia, Berrien County Hospital, Nashville, Georgia, Madison County Hospital, Madison, Florida.  Some of these laboratories were certified by College of American Pathologists and The Joint Commission for Hospital Accreditation.

-Current, active unrestricted medical licenses to practice general medicine in the states of Georgia, Florida, and Alabama

-Case-reviews: well over 100,000 combined, clinical, laboratory medicine, and autopsy cases over his career with proven accuracy and reproducibility when compared to other clinical practices and external laboratory medical practices, including academic practices such as the Mayo Clinic, MD Anderson, Harvard, AFIP, and Johns Hopkins, just to name a few 

-Active fellow-membership, College of American Pathologists (FCAP) and Georgia State Medical Association.

-Team-leader, Laboratory Accreditation by the College of American Pathologists

Dr. Gates' premium dedicated, life-long chosen commitment is to promote modern medical practice through  shared medical practice experience  by way of online medical discussions for patients and health care providers alike

Dr. Gates believes that by sharing medical cases live AND online with other physicians from a broad spectrum of medical specialties, will result in the following:

-accountability and transparency;

- lowered overall health care costs;

-appropriate direct communication among health care providers

-improvement upon clinical medical diagnostic accuracy;

-reduction in pathological and medical laboratory error; AND

 -enhanced patient safety initiative. 

It is a proven fact that when health care providers of various specialties collaborate and directly communicate  globally with each other and the patient, the ultimate level of quality care is achieved, medical error is reduced, and patient safety initiative is remarkably improved upon.

• Providing convenient mobile general medical care (house-call) for diagnostic evaluation, treatment, and management to patients who would like to maintain discretion and privacy in the comfort of their home or office, as well as to have an expert medical diagnostician manage and treat acute, chronic, and preventable diseases, limiting the patient's exposure to other sick patients.

OUR PHILOSOPHY

Primum Non Nocere-"first,not to harm"

Hippocratic Oath-".....to abstain from doing harm" 

Primum Succurrere-"First, hasten to help"

PREAMBLE OF OUR MEDICAL PRACTICE-MDC-ATLANTA:

Developing a personable relationship with patients about their Healthy-care

This primary care provider/laboratory medicine doctor, as a board-certified doctor and also known as the "doctor's doctor" with experience in general clinical medical practice, is ready to take your questions; empowering patients to play a role in their healthy care, partnering with their physicians.  Patients of this practice are alive and seeking ways to take control and manage their quality health care.  This practice through medical laboratory experts and clinical consultants, will guide and assist the patient toward that effort.

We at MDC-Atlanta recognize the importance of the patient's role in the patient-physician partnership with respect to appropriate medical diagnoses that may lead to effective treatment and management of disease.   The patient is on the front line of defense in the fight against or prevention of disease.  And because of such, the patient generally will be the first to notice the abnormal changes affecting his or her body through different types of symptoms or through a general sensation that "something is just not right".  

HOMEOSTASIS is that big word that simply means how our body stays in balance  or equilibrium by communicating with the various organic systems of the human body.  This homeostatic mechanism operates primarily through feedback loops (chemical and electrical messengers communicated from one system to another) regulated by the body's nervous sytem and  endocrine (or hormonal ) system.  When homeostasis is disturbed or out of balance, then disease becomes manifested.  Thus, the patient notices that there is a problem (or potential for disease)  through various symptoms which are manifestations of the imbalance as compared to baseline, normal bodily functions.  The physician generally uses chemicals in the form of medication to bring the body back in line with or within an acceptable functional level of homeostasis, as well as to prevent further complication of chronic disease processes  such as high blood pressure, diabetes, lupus, etc. that may lead to permanent loss of organic function.

Often times, these diseases can be discovered sooner than later through preventative care.  But more specifically, a patient can partner with a physician such as Dr. Gates, who is a specialist, board certified in studying diseases.  In fact, Dr. Gates could help you, the patient, directly, through selected laboratory tests performed to unravel hidden diseases like anemia, liver disease, kidney disease, pancreatic disease, and even certain types of cancers.  "To INQUIRE is to be WISE about your Healthy Care, to Prevent Expensive SICK CARE ."  Selected lab tests may include complete metabolic panel (CMP, generally less than $30  to have done)  that reveals the chemistry of various organ functions such as kidney, liver as well as glucose level, cholesterol level, and even certain enzymes that help regulate our body's normal function.  A urine sample could reveal proteins in the urine which could be a sign of kidney disease; or blood in urine which could be a sign of early urinary bladder cancer, or even cancer of the upper urinary tract/kidney.  Even a review of the blood smear or a complete blood count test (less than $40 to have done) can determine which type of anemia one may have without one having to undergo a bone marrow biopsy for those who may have for instance, anemia of chronic diseases.  Dr. Gates can discuss this with you, the potential patient in greater details, that could save you time, money, and complications from delayed diagnoses (i.e. SICK CARE). A History and Physical Examination ONLY performed by primary care providers without laboratory expertise, could be less specific and may even delay diagnosis of certain types of diseases.

Now, the most important roles for the clinic mobile (house-call) doctor and laboratory medicine expert are to give patient due respect, honor patient's dignity, be empathetic, and compassionate.  But most importantly, the role of physician is to KNOW when to seek advice or second opinions from other clinical colleagues when faced with a diagnostic dilemma or questionable lab result/descrepancy  or specific treatment/management strategy that may have untoward consequences for the patient's health care. 

"While 'to err is human', cover-ups of medical mistakes should never be tolerated in a civilized society."

Unlike most busy primary care providers and laboratory medicine experts, We listen to  our patients and our referenced clinic doctors or nurse practitioners without rush, because we care about the ultimate outcome of providing patients with the highest level of Safe, effective,  quality  and most affordable health care available.

More Advice About How the Patient and Public Can Evaluate A Quality Laboratory Practice:

BASIC PREMISE FOR EFFECTIVE, ACCURATE, QUALITY AND SAFE MEDICAL CARE:

AS IT RELATES TO THE MEDICAL LABORATORY: 

Accuracy in laboratory medicine practice is defined as the ability to derive at a test result that comes within an acceptable range of the targeted result (i.e. within an acceptable standard of error or deviation);

Precision in laboratory medicine practice is defined as the ability to derive at a test result that is closest to or exactly the same as the targeted result (i.e. essentially without significant error or statistical difference).

Certain laboratory practice methodologies and standards of operation determine if the medical laboratory test results are precise or accurate.

Medical laboratory testing is designed to place a patient into two different categories based on the final test result: 1) Well Patient  and 2) Sick Patient.  If the test result indicates that there is no disease, and clinically there is evidence of disease  present, then that TEST result is called FALSE NEGATIVE.  If the test result indicates that disease is present,  and clinically there is no evidence of disease, then that TEST result is called FALSE POSITIVE.  In certain screening tests, false negatives are more harmful than false positives for patients; however, the reverse can also be true in certain types of diseases.  Always consult a laboratory medicine doctor well versed in explaining these types of test results that could have untoward consequences for the PATIENT.

Let's give you two examples of how patients and/or practitioners can be vigilant about the accuracy of the laboratory test results.  One just simply needs to look at the patient's preconditions for testing.  These include: 1) Patient's Risk Category for selected disease for which the test is being performed;  2) Lesions that are visible to the patient or established clinically by the practitioner.  If neither of these preconditions is met, then the patient or practitioner should ALWAYS, question the lab test results and not act on one result, that could be in error, and should be repeated to confirm the accuracy of the result.  The repeated test could be done at no cost to patient at the reporting lab or the repeated test result with different sample could be done at a different laboratory with additional cost to patient.  This way if a patient has been erroneously tested positive through an HIV screen  for instance, the laboratory that reported this result in error should be notified.

Developing a Relationship with Patients About their General Health Care:

AS IT RELATES TO THE CLINICAL EVALUATION OR PATIENT'S OBSERVATION:

"Cancer is accurately diagnosed principally by  seeing evidence of a cancerous cell  as viewed under the microscope or genetic testing" .      NO health-care provider can accurately determine if a patient has cancer by mere clinical observation, without diagnostic imaging studies/laboratory studies, or without reviewing cancerous cells under the microscope.  Unfortunately, patients have been harmed because of lack of diagnostic evaluation by imaging or laboratory studies prior to treatment and management. 

"If it hurts, and continues to get worse, it won't just go away in time."

"If it continues to grow and change in color, texture, size or any other abnormal appearances, then IT IS something to worry about"

"If your parent, sibling or other immediate family member died of the disease at a younger age, then perhaps genetic testing and assessment of risks may be in order."

"Diet and life style changes should be made after appropriately consulting a medical doctor and reputable, certified-licensed dietitian and/or nutritionist, and should not be based on information gained from popular media trends or throw away magazines.  A one plan fits all is not the safest option.  It is appropriately advisable that as a patient you should consult your primary care doctor (or even an experienced qualified, medical laboratory doctor) to assess your risk of heart disease based on family history (genetics),  life-style habits, certain types of medical laboratory tests, and current medical conditions, i.e. high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, overactive blood clotting system, etc."

"Pap smears are frequently misdiagnosed by the pathologist or cytotechnologist because of lack of adequately enforceable standards."  If you develop cervical cancer after you've been given diagnoses of negatively screened Pap-smears, you may have reasons to get a second opinion on your  previously screened pap smear pathology slides.

"Previously screened laboratory results in certain medical specialties are frequently misdiagnosed by a loner pathologist or laboratory medicine doctor."  If you have been given false negative or false positive pathological diagnoses, you should have those previously prepared pathology slides reviewed by an independent laboratory medicine doctor to disclose the possibility of malfeasance.

"Certain patients who have been victimized by false negative laboratory screening tests might be entitled to legitimate claims for medico-legal recourse in these instances. Such neglect could be an indication for medical malpractice proceedings to disclose substandard medical practice.

"If your loved one died without reasonable explanation of death, you may want to inquire about a private autopsy to learn about the cause of death of your loved one."

"IF IT DOESN'T ADD UP OR IS NOT CLARIFIED TO YOUR SATISFACTION, THEN SEEK A SECOND OPINION" or SIMPLY Call DR. GATES

A physician you can depend on for Quality Assurance in Primary Care and Laboratory Medicine.  It is not enough to have "expert" behind your name or practice institution without showing commitment to accuracy and diagnostic reproducibility of results, as well as in assuring safe, effective therapeutic care and management of the disease process.

DISCLAIMER: The information and advice contained in or made available through this website is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace the services of a health professional or to be a substitute for medical advice of physicians. The user should regularly consult a physician in all matters relating to his or her health, particularly in respect to any symptoms that may require diagnosis or medical attention. Medical Diagnostic Choices and its staff, representatives, or affiliates make no representations or warranties with respect to any treatment, action, or application of medication or preparation by any person following the information offered or provided within or through this website. Neither Medical Diagnostic Choices and its staff, representatives, nor affiliates will be liable for any direct, indirect, consequential, special, exemplary, or other damages arising there from.