Which would you prefer in a surgeon...

[Jerry Shaw]

Going in for some outpatient surgery soon. Met the guy today...older than me (50+), really kind of gruff, but all business...I like him. What say you?

[TwoTubMan]

I prefer one that talks to you, not at you, or your chart. And no comedians, either.

[Big White Tele]

I'd opt for the one with more insurance.

[senseofrelief]

You need the guy that actually gives a crap...trust me...having had major life changing surgery...you need the guy that sees your hip as his opus...not getting in the way of his tee off time.

I want experience, but a few have sold out, and are just about the money...check for attitude, and ask for patients that have a success rate with the guy...

If I had to do it again...I'd have a university medical prof doing the surgery with 80 students watching...it would be done right.

[Jerry Shaw]

I prefer one that talks to you, not at you, or your chart. And no comedians, either.

Well this is pretty cut and dry <pun>, I understood the proceedings before I went in today. Innernets great!

I'd opt for the one with more insurance.

Good point, I wish there was a way to tell. I wouldn't want to come away missing any parts!

[Boobala]

I want someone who's up on the latest and greatest. I don't want some old codger trying to bleed the bad "humors" out of me. ;)

[halorealm7]

My mother recently had need for an artery repair in her leg after some heart work. I was very worried in the pre-op. Every face there looked like they should have been serving burgers at a drive-in. I expressed my concern to one of the "older" nurses. She said they (youngsters) were the absolute best in the business. Mom was in recovery in exactly 43 minutes with a repaired artery. Mom said they were tremendous. I like the kids with something to prove.

[schmidlin]

I'd opt for the one with more insurance.
What a defeatist's attitude. More insurance probably means you *need* more insurance, 'cause you stink.

Also sounds like you are looking to leach off the system...

[shane88]

the only surgeries i've had haven't been elective and i've always used the public health system which means getting treated for free in a huge teaching hospital so i've encountered many doctors of all shapes and sizes and the treatment/proceedure has always been first class - i have found however that they mostly have a superior tone about themselves in as much as they assume i'm not as smart as they are

[Sanjuro]

Probably someone in between. I can understand not wanting a 31 year old surgeon, or a 65 year old. Someone in their mid-40s would be young enough to be tech-savvy, but old enough to have a few years under their belt.

But that's ideal. Every year there are more and more career changers entering medical school. So the 50 year old surgeon may only have 1 years worth of experience. Went back to med school at 39, graduates at 44, does a 5 year surgery residency...bam, 49 year old greenhorn.

[whitecadillac]

I prefer one that talks to you, not at you, or your chart. And no comedians, either.

This. They have to be able to explain what they are about to do and why they are about to do it.

[Matt Jones]

depends on the procedure.

[MikeSRV69]

You need the guy that actually gives a crap...trust me...having had major life changing surgery...you need the guy that sees your hip as his opus...not getting in the way of his tee off time.

I want experience, but a few have sold out, and are just about the money...check for attitude, and ask for patients that have a success rate with the guy...

If I had to do it again...I'd have a university medical prof doing the surgery with 80 students watching...it would be done right.

This. In fact, this is what I just had. I had a total hip replacement just over 12 weeks ago and my surgeon IS a professor as well as one of the primary orthopedic docs for two Chicago pro sports teams. He is the guy who did Bo Jackson's hip replacement when he played for the White Sox. He also did two hips for my Mom and we know many of his patients who all came out better for seeing him. He is late middle-aged, tough as nails, and tells it like it is. I would not settle for anyone less than this. Thanks to my surgeon, I can walk without pain again. I actually saw him today for my 3 month checkup and couldn't thank him enough. Don't ever settle for less than the best you can get. Not all doctors are created equal. Remember the old joke:

What do they call the guy who graduates last from medical school?

Doctor.

[JPF]

Go for the experience when dealing with stuff that really matters - like your health. The deeper and more relevant the experience to your condition and ailment, the better. New techniques are fine and well once they have been throughly adopted by the medical community, but until then I'd rather know that the surgeon working on me has worked on hundreds or thousands of patients with similar injuries and has seen it all.

The neurosurgeon who fused my C3/C4 and stabilised my S1/L5 with titanium rods and screws passed away a few years ago. If I ever need another operation, I'll look for someone with his profile and expertise without any doubt.

I'd let the young hipsters try new technology and techniques on other patients, while he/she accumulate experience.

[Dr. Tweedbucket]

I don't trust too many doctors. I went in for hernia surgury because I had a little separation on my left abdominal wall. The doc said while they are doing the procedure, do I want them to repair the other side if they find anything :confused: .... and I said, yeah sure, I don't want to have to go though this on another date. Well, of course I woke up and both sides were done. I'm thinking he just needed a payment on his home or something ... there was nothing wrong with the other side as far as I could tell.

That being said, I think as long as the older d0od have kept up with all his training and knows the latest techniques, yeah, go with him. :YinYang

[rmj254]

Depends on what's being done. Honestly, as long as the individual is board certified (and operating within their specialty's scope of practice), it doesn't make much difference.

[mark norwine]

50+ is "old"?

C'mon....

[Cornbread]

when i went in for surgery my doc had been doing it for 30 years
he was actually one of the first in the area to do it
he could probably do it in his sleep, luckily he did it in mine ;)
he retired a few years later

i was glad he did mine, after 30 years the chance of a 'surprise' for him was pretty low
he was straight forward but he cared

[GuitarGuy510]

I just had two major, life-altering GI surgeries back in November and March. My surgeon was one of the top guys in the US, well-known in the gastroenterology surgical field and his # 2 guy is an up-and-comer too. I checked around for success rates and even found a forum completely dedicated to people who have the surgery and after doing a search I found a TON of people who had gone to him and had successful surgeries. It helps that I'm younger (28), but having a great surgeon makes all the difference in the world. The surgeon was a mix of both options though, he's very to-the-point and doesn't joke around at all and for the surgery he opted for a little of both old-school cutting straight in as well as laparoscopy wherever possible so post surgery I have 5 scars, only two of which are large (the main incision was from belly button down to the waistline, the 2nd was the now-sealed opening from the temporary ileostomy which is thin but fairly long so it's noticable as well) so I think he did a fairly good job being minimally-invasive where it was possible. I had a "successful" surgery but for me it's hard to tell because the healing time is something around 12 months and being 3 months out it's pretty noticeable when your GI tract is not normal anymore! :o

Also another factor I took into consideration... my gastroenterologist's head nurse just had her mom go in for a similar surgery, and she was allowed to hand-select the surgeons for the procedure. She picked the same guys they recommended to me, so I took that as a sign of confidence in his work as well since she loves her mother. ;)

[StompBoxBlues]

Honestly...I don't know.

I realized a number of years ago when a doctor I had thought of as "not very good" diagnosed our son with an incredibly well done diagnoses on a disease that was so rare the hospital afterwards, the doctors there were a little in awe that he had even thought of it.

Other doctors I would have judged "great"...find out aren't so. Many folks, older folks, love to say "Oh, you should go see my doctor, doctor C! He's the best!" and you know what, nine times out of ten I bet they don't know either.

A doctor (or surgeon) can be excellent but have not the best bedside manner. I see similar things in software...folks that are genius with terrible people skills, or the opposite, bad doctors that are great at making you feel "cared for". Then of course, you can have great doctors with great bedside...etc.


Not to mention the OP, my gut would tell me go with the older, experienced one, because if complications he may have the most tricks up his sleeve, or more things to try. But honestly...I don't know at all how to judge a doctor.

[Tonekat]

Age is not the determining factor for me in a surgeon as much as skill and willingness to communicate with the patient, and availability post surgery.

[jumpnblues]

50+ is "old"?

C'mon....


Thanks Mark! :aok


Tom

[Mudder]

I recently had ACL reconstruction. Initially my doctor was a crotchety old fart who was great, no fooling around. He doesn't do surgery anymore so he recommended one, the youngest in their practice, and he too was awesome. No nonsense, complete description of the task and recovery, lets get after it.

[chrisr777]

I want the one who does it right. I would prefer that they don't need insurance.

[Sandy Cheeks]

Surgeons are known for having zero bed-side manner.

[Jerry Shaw]

50+ is "old"?

C'mon....

Well, I meant relatively. I'm 50, the guy is clearly older than me, probably closer to 60, maybe older than that. All white hair, pretty wrinkly. Probably not old for an auto mechanic or a welder, or a million other occupations, it just seemed ancient for a surgeon.

[Peteyvee]

Well, I meant relatively. I'm 50, the guy is clearly older than me, probably closer to 60, maybe older than that. All white hair, pretty wrinkly. Probably not old for an auto mechanic or a welder, or a million other occupations, it just seemed ancient for a surgeon.

Don't worry, he'll have a nice young anesthesiologist to make sure you wake up.:p Go for the best, regardless of age. Board certified is a must...

[maxbatista]

I am a board certified physician. Here's the skinny.
1.) It's swell to get support from friends, family & peers, but it's not such a great idea to derive advise on a technical matter from a network which is 'geared' [didn't mean the pun] to the study of an unrelated discipline. I belong to a few M.D. forums, and I'll tell you, they are poor places for guitar advise. [I personally enjoy & have a lot more in common with my musician friends than with my doctor associates (I'll just leave it at that).
2.) THe best way to answer this question would be to ask people that know the most about the topic - essentially to ask doctors what they would do.
3.) Docs might rely on word of mouth for some small fraction of the decision tree - if they have to have a particular type of proceedure that only a few people are qualified to perform, they'd ask associates about feedback on a specific physician but for a general guidance item, like the one posed here, very little weight would be placed on word of mouth feedback (even when the feedback is coming from pros in the field in question). Why is this so? It's because any one person can only provide an opinion derived from a very few data points. THis is what 'anecdotal evidence' is called. I may have known 300 patients who I've referred to get a knee replacement, but that is only 300 out of 10s of 1000s performed every year. Far better is to rely on the largest collection of data which can be collected and impartially assessed.
3.) When all available data is put thru the hopper you find that 2 factors alone account for over 80 % of the predictive value regarding the success of a procedure & long term outcome.
i,) specific experience doing a specific procedure. Having a shinier. less busy internist or generalist may be a significant advantage for routine ongoing care, but this is not so when you are talking procedures. It's really and truly a numbers game. The more you've done something, even if your long in the tooth, the better you're results tend to be because you've seen more things go wrong and don't have to rely on imagination.
Therefore ---> if I need a complete heart, lung, kidney & johnson transplant, I look around to see who my options are & ask myself one thing & one thing only: who's done the most of them (it trumphs enthusiasm, wait times, & bedside manner by A LOT) - many of the best technicians are unpleasant rather narcissistic types who are extemely invested in having good numbers (which is a good thing, even if you'd rather not sit next to them at the next Crossroads Festival.)

ii.) The Facility - track record of the place where Doc X does his thing vs. where Doc Y runs his show [these stats are easy to obtain with a little digging - search for: Saint X Medical Center, outcomes, ratings]

Sorry for the long winded tirade [was on call last night & I always tend to ramble a bit when the eyes go a little bloodshot] & ditto the typos

[Peteyvee]

So Max, in your experience and based on name and reputation, would St John's in SM be the best place for a "johnson" transplant? I mean they're great with hearts, knees and hips, right? Just curious...:cool:

[maxbatista]

Funny you should ask. No. It turns out with respect to Johnsons that a hospital in the South Pacific (I forget which island nation state) is the place for reanastimosis of said part (not really a transplant I suppose). Aggressive actting out by jealous or otherwise abused wives and girlfriends upon intoxicated partners (once passed out) became a something of a regional epidemic in the 80's and the local surgeons got more practice at that particular type of aftermarket add-on than just about anybody. L.A. doesn't seem to have that but being a trendsetting kind of place ...

[zep41]

Surgeons are known for having zero bed-side manner.

...which to me, is completely irrelevant. You're not there to have someone be a buddy and be careful how he talks and all that -- you want them to do the job and do it right. Period. Its not physchology time, its your physical health!

I'd rather take the meanest prick out there with zero "bedside manner" if he does the job better than the "nice guy." Just IMO.

[Peteyvee]

Funny you should ask. No. It turns out with respect to Johnsons that a hospital in the South Pacific (I forget which island nation state) is the place for reanastimosis of said part (not really a transplant I suppose). Aggressive actting out by jealous or otherwise abused wives and girlfriends upon intoxicated partners (once passed out) became a something of a regional epidemic in the 80's and the local surgeons got more practice at that particular type of aftermarket add-on than just about anybody. L.A. doesn't seem to have that but being a trendsetting kind of place ...

Those guys must have had a rude awakening...:omg

[Jerry Shaw]

I am a board certified physician. Here's the skinny.
...it's not such a great idea to derive advise on a technical matter from a network which is 'geared' [didn't mean the pun] to the study of an unrelated discipline.

Welcome to TGP. You'll soon find that almost everyone in "The Pub" is an expert on almost everything!http://img.thegearpage.net/board/images/icons/icon10.gif

Just kidding - thank you for taking time to post what you did - excellent advise from an expert! Appreciated.

[Pietro]

A lot of the best guys in MANY specialties are 50+ AND hip to the latest advances... in many cases, they are the guys who invent the new advances.

[wes37]

I'd opt for experience.