If you’re like many people, you never ask important questions of your doctor before following treatments they prescribe. Many patients tend to look for health care providers who are friendly, spend the most time with them, or who smile and listen to their story intently. These are qualities perceived by many patients to make for a good doctor and although they are important, they are not the most important to consider.
It’s important where your doctor did their training. Did they go to an American University, did they perform extra years of training called a fellowship? This is not to say a clinician trained abroad is not a good doctor. However, the quality and consistency of training, length of training, and experience is much different in other countries. The same can be said for American Universities for a doctor that was trained in a top 25 medical program has likely endured more rigorous training than a doctor that graduated from the bottom 25 medical program or finished in the bottom of their class.
There are doctors that perform procedures they learned at a weekend course. Their experience and training with the procedure may be limited. Some doctors have business relationships with companies that supply hardware used during surgery which ultimately dictates which type of surgery that doctor will advocate for.
A doctor trained at a good medical program who has experience with both surgical and non-surgical options, is independent from surgical device companies, and can give you time to discuss options is your ideal clinician. A good clinician will be proud of where they trained and not offended you asked.
