I would feel very uncomfortable with a male gynocologist. If that makes me a throwback, so be it.
My dentist is a woman, and she’s great. She was a dental hygenist for years, and I think that makes her more gentle and sensitive to patients.
I can’t remember the last time I went to a GP for anything, but I don’t have a gender preference in that department.
I didn’t mean to imply that I thought older doctors were bad, or necessarily set in their ways. One I know of, who was GREAT when I was his patient, turns out to be a great doctor, but if you’re not his patient, he thinks you are scum. He treats the nurses and the support staff at the hospital in a horribly rude and disrespectful way. I could never go back to him now. He’s also someone who insists on doing things the old-fashioned way, so the patient can end up under anesthesia longer.
The Irish doctor I used to have was very good, but he retired. I’m 50, and my doctors are in their fifties or early 60s. That great gynecologist who specializes in infertility and laparoscopy is a bit youngerthan that, but he still looks about 40 to 45.
There’s one OB-GYN in town who is a man in his late 70’s or early 80’s – and he’s a fantastic doctor. I see him sometimes out riding his bike. Another, a cardiologist whom I once tutored in French (and who was never my doctor) has retired from medical practice, but now devotes himself to Doctors without Borders (Medecins sans Frontiers) and frequently travels to Africa for that organization. I admire both of these men very much.
In general, I tell people you want a young doctor and an old nurse.
I’m an OB/GYN RN, so for OB, I’d say an older doc just for the experience but male or female doc is your own preference for your own reasons.
I prefer female doctors for everything. I’m a male, and I’d much rather have a woman handle my bits or be nude in front of. However, the real reason I try to choose female doctors is that my personal experience has been that they listen longer when I speak and are more conscientious about making the right decision rather than the fast one.
I have a female dentist, psychiatrist, dermatologist, and opthomologist. My family doc was female, but she got replaced when I happened to be seen by one of her partners, a male, who was very good. So now I have a male doc in my lineup.
Other than gender, I dont’ have any stereotypes, but given the choice, I would tend to go with one in her late 30’s or 40’s, as they’re young enough to be current but old enough to be experienced and wise.
Pablito
For GP? I don’t really care if they are male or female, but I tend to prefer younger doctors (not fresh out of med school young), young enough to not be “set in their ways”.
Gyn/OB? I used to prefer women, but after the ob/gyn that delivered my son. MY ideas on that changed. Men can be just as good, decent, and kind, allowing a girl her dignity as a woman doctor.
So, I guess my preference overall would be sorta youngish, and open to new ideas.
Old man atleast 50, most definitely…no women it’s not fun to let a woman look at your pecker, atleast in that situation even though that hasn’t happened since I was 12.
All the young doctors always want to joke around to much so I like the old serious type.
Gender? No preference I tell myself, although the doctors I see on a regular basis are mostly male. I have wondered about my choice of male doctors and have come to the conclusion, not necessarily proud of it, that I can direct them more than a female.
The exception is my breast care specialist who is female and wonderful. She cuts to the chase: if you have an abnormality on your exam she addresses it that day in her office. She has a radiologist on staff to read ultrasounds and mammograms as the are done. You know the score when you leave her office. No “schedule a diagnostic and bite your fingernals for a week or two.” I think she is more responsive to this because of her gender.
Age? I do have an objective criteria here. If you are choosing a new physician late thirties-ish is a good age. Young enough to know new techniques, etc and propbably have more flexibility to new ideas, but still old enough to have some maturity…and if you are real lucky, some wisdom to go with the smarts.
Surgeon? Done most…best stats…period.
I found this to be the case with the doctor that delivered my daughter; she had 3 kids of her own. She apparently didn’t have much trouble and assumed that Motrin and sitz baths would do the trick for any woman while recovering.
I can see why lots of women prefer male OBs. They’ve never had a baby and can’t tell you “oh it doesn’t hurt THAT bad.” I have a great midwife now and I’ll probably stick with her for any other babies I have … as long as I’m confident that she will not drop the ball on me if I’m in pain and OTC medications aren’t getting it.
I don’t have a preference as to gender or age. As long as they know what they’re doing and listen to what I have to say, I go along with their program.
My current GP is a woman of about my age, and I’ve never had any qualms about letting her do any procedure. She’s given me several complete physicals (including the DRE). I figure she’s seen enough, poked enough, and felt enough that one more set of equipment isn’t going to matter much to her. She also remembers me when we see each other in the grocery store.
My dentist is a young woman, but I see her for about 45 seconds at each appointment. “Open wide…hmmm…everything looks good…remember to floss…see you in 6 months.”
Here’s what I’ve been able to learn while hanging out with my wife’s work buddies (mostly oncologist, respirologists, and surgeons)
-There are good doctors of every age and gender
-Not everybody gets to chose a perfect doctor, and an imperfect one is better than none.
-In general, it’s best to ask someone in the medical field if they’ve heard scuttlebut about which Dr’s to avoid at all costs. The important thing is to stay away from these guys.
-If you go by generlizations, a younger GP is better, they’re less likely to blow things off (but more likely to overinvestigate) and more up to speed. Sadly, many GPs are too busy to keep up with research & the current state of the art.
-If you need a surgery/procedure done, and it’s common, chose a surgeon with the most experience. Beware, the best surgeons are often the biggest a$$holes, and can have the bedside manner of an SS officer. Ask your GP, off the record, promising not to use their name, who they would send their family members to see / who to avoid.
Regarding choosing hospitals:
If you have an illness / medical condition, you’re better off at a teaching hospitals, because more minds will consider your condition, i.e. intern is checked by resident is checked by sr. resident is checked by attending, and the diagnosis & treatment will be more likely to be correct, and more likely to be in tune with the latest research. Rare conditions are much more likely to be correctly diagnosed at these centers.
If you have an injurry / surgical condition, you’re better off at a non teaching hospital, because you don’t want all the above folks practicing their procedures on you… You want one guy, who’s done a ton of these, does them all the timne, could do them in his sleep, and thinks it’s no big deal.
Regarding female vs. male, there is no clear concensus among the folks with whom we socialise. My personal opinion / findings is that female MDs are more likely to give you a good listen first and make sure they’ve understood your complaint well. I have found some male MDs to be too eager to fix things before they know what’s wrong.
Also, I’m a craven coward about pain, and women don’t give me as much of a hard time about it… :o
I don’t care much about age or gender (although I admit to having a problem with a woman poking her finger up my ass). What I require is as follows:
I am currently looking for a doctor (and might have to use my company physician for a prescription if I don’t find one that’s taking patients soon!)
I am looking for a male, preferably young-ish…say, 50 or less? I’m 23, and the grandfatherly doctors, well, they make me think of my grandfather and that’s just not good!
I don’t know why I prefer a man, because there’s alwas a female nurse present for physicals anyways and my previous doctor always chatted with her too about questions I had, etc. Unfortunately I can’t go back to that doctor as I’m now in another town. I don’t generally get sick, and so if I came down with something serious enough to go to a clinic or the ER, I really wouldn’t care who the doctor was as long as they made me feel better. But for my yearly physical, I want to be comfortable with the person.