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New oncologist

Prostate Cancer | Last Active: 2 days ago | Replies (10)

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@trusam1

90 % of doctors have sufficient knowledge and reasoning ability. The key is whether YOUR doc sees you as an individual and is able to communicate with you on that basis, not just operating on auto-pilot. I agree that a "younger" (say, 5-8 years out of med school) physician will be more open minded, less set in their ways. Here's hoping...

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Replies to "90 % of doctors have sufficient knowledge and reasoning ability. The key is whether YOUR doc..."

"90 % of doctors have sufficient knowledge and reasoning ability" might be too generous, especially with a rapidly-changing field like prostate cancer.

My uncle (now retired) was a small-town GP, chief surgeon at the hospital, and coroner, and he's said that most of his colleagues did *not* do a good job keeping up on the latest developments and best practices. He was advocating for mandatory recurrent training for all physicians and surgeons, but it didn't get very far (sadly).

That's one reason I encourage people to go to a major research centre if they can, rather than relying on the local urologist who might be great (granted), or might be frozen in time, doing everything the same way they did when they left med school in 1994.

As for your criterion, my new oncologist does seem to see me as a human. At our first appointment he booked extra time to get to know me, seemed genuinely (rather than just professionally) interested, and even talked about his own history instead of maintaining the studied professional detachment of the older generation.