If you had a serious medical problem and a choice of two medical practices

[NJmaverick]

which would you pick?

1) This practice is lead by a young doctor. He graduated near the top of his class, from the best med school in the Country. He has been very impressive in the first few years of his practice, and most talk about his great potential. His partner is an older very experienced doctor, who is well regarded in his field for his expertise and ability.

2) This practice is lead by a doctor near retirement. He finished near the bottom of his class, but he did graduate from a good school. He is regarded as a bit of a maverick in his field. He has had a solid practice, but not an innovator. He is likable though and you enjoy visiting with him. He added a partner who is only a physicians assistant and she only graduated a couple of years ago. Little is actually known about how good she is.


So which practice would you go to?

[skooooo]

1. Probably the 1st guy...

...although sometimes the older guys are the most innovative. (Based on my experience.)

[liberal N proud]

2. Too many in America would choose the old doctor

Because they are familiar with the status quo and don't like "change"

[Bob Dobbs]

3. Don't denigrate physician's assistants.

They are well trained and perfectly qualified for their jobs.

No similarity to falin' palin, whatsoever.

[progdonkey]

16. yeah, it really shouldn't be a PA...

but a lady with a "degree" from a correspondence course from Patriot Bible University, and who asked on her first day, "So, what does a stethoscope do, exactly?" And then made a mistake saying that the lungs pump blood into the heart, which infuses the blood with oxygen.

Physician's assistants actually have a high degree of competence.

It's a good analogy, though, sans this one detail. (Though, perhaps the older doctor also shouldn't be described as having a "solid" practice, and rather had a messy malpractice lawsuit 20 years ago after he used tin foil instead of titanium to fix someone's skull, and pocketed the difference.)

[NJmaverick]

27. PAs are good but they are not the equal of an MD

that was what I was trying to convey.

[Warpy]

28. Medical Assistant

The course is a very short one, just long enough to teach a little basic terminology, how to take vitals with advanced training in how to draw blood to send out for tests.

The school just opened a few years ago and doesn't have a good reputation. Smart grads complain that they paid a lot of money for lectures that didn't have much to do with the course outline.

That's the parallel.

[NJmaverick]

31. that might work better

[Redstone]

4. Boy, I bet a LOT of people are going to miss your point. But that was an excellent post anyway.

I'll vote the first one, just like I will in November.

Redstone

[NJmaverick]

7. It would appear you are right

[Bob Dobbs]

29. We all get it.

It's just a sloppy analogy.

[otohara]

5. As Long As Said Dr. Is Not A Woman

I wouldn't care -

I don't like women doctors - I am a woman.

[Redstone]

9. I'm male, and I prefer female doctors. If you were male, you'd understand why:

Their fingers tend to be more slender than those of male doctors. And that make one particularly unpleasant process of a pysical exam a bit less unpleasant.

Redstone

[JDPriestly]

20. And I, also a woman, like woman doctors.

[otohara]

24. Yup, Yup, We All Have Our Personal Preferance

when it comes to our doctors.

I've just had too many bad experiences with female docs.

[YOY]

6. You forgot to mention the young doctor is black

Which means if one is an complete idiot, would factor into things.

[SteelPenguin]

11. Beat me to it

[magellan]

8. House!

n/t

[Ilsa]

15. He's good, but cranky! Bad bedside manner! LOL nt

[magellan]

25. Yes, but he'll save my life!

Some of the most competent people in the world are ones you wouldn't like to have a drink with! ;)

[supernova]

10. First one

For the following reasons:

1) The newer doc is up to date on all the latest research and treatment protocols. If I have an unusual problem, he is more likely to try something experimental if other treatments have proved pointless.

2) If the younger one is getting too rash, the older MD is there to provide a counterweight.


Now a word about older MDs:
I would consider an older MD for a difficult problem if s/he is an innovator in their field, like Judah Folkman or Michael DeBakey and are so sure they are right that they persist in their lonely research paths. ;-)

The second doc in your OP would probably be just fine for routine care. Nothing like talking to a comforting figure. However, any doc worth their salt realizes their limitations and will refer you to someone else if they can't seem to help.

[Ilsa]

12. I actually went to number 1. He was fresh from residency, but the practice

was well established. I wanted someone who liked keeping up with the latest research.

[MannyGoldstein]

13. One - Younger Docs Tend To Be Better Informed

And I work with a lot of docs.

[LeftishBrit]

14. The first...

especially if the assistant to the second was known for being a religious extremist who would place her God ahead of my health; and there was a strong likelihood that her boss would be spending periods off sick, and leaving her in charge.

[bmbmd]

17. I get it.

This is one of those "analogy" things, isn't it?

[NJmaverick]

21. Yes it is, although it would appear that many didn't notice it

[bmbmd]

32. The younger guy would aggressively diagnose

and treat the problem. The older guy would convince you that there is no problem.

[Dr. Strange]

26. Ugh, I hate analogies.

Analogies are like..., uh, something. I don't know. I don't like 'em.

[NJmaverick]

30. I love analogies. I believe they can wield great power of persuasion

Why do you think Karl Rove is so fond of them?

Axis of evil

Obama is the Country club guy

These are a couple of the ones he has used, I am sure if I took the time I could think of many more.

[Dr. Strange]

33. Aha!

So you ADMIT to using the same tactics as Rove! nomad1776 is a troll!

Reccer, the Recommended is a troll!

[pitohui]

18. "choice" doesn't exist, i go to the practice i am instructed to by my insurer

at the end of the day i can't afford to have an opinion, i have to do as i'm told by the entity holding the strings -- the insurance company

what that says about your metaphor, i don't know, but it can't be good

[JDPriestly]

19. I know a lot about how doctors work. I would choose the first

one because I know that there is a lot of new information out there based on recent research. Older doctors may not take the time to review the literature before diagnosing and treating their patients. Younger doctors will. Also, a younger doctor is likely to have mentors, older doctors and specialists with whom to consult when facing a difficult problem. Older doctors rely on their knowledge of what worked in the past. Younger doctors are more likely to be curious. It is not a question of age. It is a question of how the doctors were trained to begin with.

The younger doctors studied medicine in the computer age in which there is so much information available, new studies going on all the time. The older doctors studied medicine before the internet and before the research was being done so quickly. Some of the recent research has proved old ideas to be simply wrong.

[csziggy]

22. Already choose Number 1 - twice!

Both times I needed to select a family doctor, I searched out young doctors just starting their practices. I've had to do it twice since the first one retired from private practice (went into an HMO due to cost of malpractice insurance and cost of running an office) after 25 years. When the time comes, I will replace my second family doctor with another young one starting up - maybe that third one will outlast me. ;)

[fed_up_mother]

23. I would choose Dr. Obama

[Romulox]

34. What if both doctors were avowed faith healers

and you were after penicillin?

I wouldn't care if the old faith healer had lots of experience, or that the new faith healer wants to change the way faith healing is done.

I am simply not interested in faith healing, no matter who the practitioner is...