How long should an echo take?

[shinsha]

I moved to Japan last year and went to see a doctor the other day for my every-6-month echo - its really hard to figure out the system here so it turned out to be not a cardiologist, just a regular doctor.  They did an echo in less than five minutes, whereas every one I've had since as far back as I can remember was at least 20-30 minutes, with measuring and listening and me moving around and the sticky pads on various parts of my chest, so I was a little freaked out, like, do these guys know what they're doing?

I had showed the doctor before going in the numbers from last year's echo in America, and all he would say to me was that all four valves looked about the same as the numbers that last year's echo showed; that it appeared there were no changes.  

Can a regular doctor really tell in less than five minutes and without measuring, how things look in there?  Are differences that easy to notice that if there were any he would have been able to with such a cursory exam?  I told him how I've been feeling really weak and tired lately and he didn't seem to care about that, which a cardiologist probably should have, since as I understand it, the symptoms of Aortic Stenosis are as important as the physical LV measurements/ejection fraction, etc in terms of setting a time frame for valve replacement surgery.  

So, I'm already assuming I'm going to need to have the echo redone by a qualified cardiologist here, but just in case they do another five minute echo, can someone tell me if that's acceptable?  


This discussion is related to how experienced are echo techs? im worried.....