How does one go about picking the best surgeon?

Always a tricky question in my mind and concern. FWIW my process boils down to making a list of the doctors who are not particularly long or short in their careers; further sort by school; lastly, I look at their bio to GUESS at who I like best.
My final sort is their position in their department; any published articles/research and how it sounds; and any society awards or accolades.
Remember, this is my home-brewed process. But it led me to an oncologist/urologist I really like both for his professional ability, personal approach, and great results so far (23-months post RALP and ADT for what escaped).
God Speed but don't rush too much and let's hope another survivor will add some good criteria for you (and me).

I would think you'd want someone with a lot of experience. The surgeon who did my RP has been doing it for over 10 years.

Beyond that, it's pretty much the same as you'd pick anyone for any service. You do your due diligence and try to ascertain the reputation of the surgeon, then try to schedule with the best one you can. I would think there is likely a certain reputation "boost" simply by having privileges at Mayo which is known to be one of the premier places for treatment of this disease. If you keep reading these forums you'll find some names of folks there with excellent reputations mentioned in posts, sorry they escape me at the moment.

I was not shy in disclosing my situation to my friends in the same and slightly older age bracket. Turns out some of them had used the same surgeon with good outcomes and recommended the gentleman I used. I also have a lot of family members in the medical community in this part of NJ, several already had positive things to say about him having a good rep. Not suggesting in any way this surgeon to you, just explaining how I did my background gathering.

From what I read this is a good call - you only get to do a RARP once & HAS to be done right!

I imagine the fact your surgeon is at Mayo you are in the top tier. I read the next Q would be how many have they performed / how often.

Also, the robot makes a difference - the DaVinci Xi is about as good as they get.

Good luck!

Great comments above on picking the right surgeon. For myself, I looked for a surgeon that had been doing RPs for decades, someone that had done thousands of robotically assisted radical prostatectomies and could make great decisions on the fly during the surgery. I did not want the department head or best research person, instead, I wanted the individual that executed surgeries every day. Reasoning for my opinion --> Before retiring, I was the engineering director. I was an ok electrical engineer, but far far less skilled than my detail focused managers and individual contributors. I was much better at leading the organization and financial based decisions than I was at actually performing the engineering task at hand. I would not want a product designed or built by myself - Same logic was used when I was diagnosed with PC. I wanted the best surgeon, not the best communicator, writer, or leader.

As others have said, definitely pick a center of excellence such as Mayo-Rochester. Then, assess the doctors at that center of excellence for the best one you can find.

I am just over one year from my RP - Fist week was challenging with the catheter and referred shoulder pain. After that, all went well.

Best wishes for all,

Jim

Great answer. Sometimes the guy who heads up the PC research for the practice he is in also performs the RALPs weekly as my guy is.

For what it's worth, I feel very fortunate that I am a patient of Dr. Raymond Pak of Mayo Jax. He is head of the urology department and did a RLP on my on July 10 of this year. My recovery has been good. My PSA was undetectable on my three month checkup. Wish you the best as you make these decisions. God bless.

Best wishes for continued undetectable PSA results going forward. Great start.

My urologist, who doesn’t do RP anymore, suggested to me two things in picking a surgeon: 1. Experience. 2. After meeting with the surgeon that I feel absolutely confident that this is the very best surgeon for me. I met with two surgeons from different Wisconsin affiliations. The second man I met with was by far my best choice: over 1000 procedures done; he does 2 twice a week(it blows my mind how many men are in the same situation as all of us!); explained everything from A to Z; and guaranteed a good outcome. He even showed me how to do Kegels. My surgery went great; I am in my last week of recovery; I had no incontinence issues and feel great🤞. I have a PSA test in January which I’m praying is undetectable. Best wishes to you and health and happiness!

Thank you so much for the reply and God Bless

Thank you so much for the reply. Very much appreciated