Yes, all the doctors are younger than I am. But after having two PCPs retire out from under me (so to speak) in three years, I went looking for a relatively younger doctor who, I hoped, would still be in practice through the rest of my life. What surprised me is how few younger doctors there were in practices that were accepting new Medicare patients. I didn’t realize that was a thing, until I ran up against it. I finally found one who is maybe 25 years younger than me, so unless I live a very long time I should be good.
I’m not worried about specialists, I take whatever referrals I am given by my PCP, or I look for offices in convenient locations. I won’t know if there’s a problem until I meet them anyway.
That reminds me of an area that does matter more than age, which is how busy a doctor is. If your doctor has time to be looking up and researching an interesting case rather than having to rush to get to their next appointment, that’s a good sign. Of course something like that is a lot harder to know about than age.
I sort of feel like their openness to being questioned or explaining stuff is a pretty good proxy for their intellectual curiosity. I can’t imagine a doctor who’s intellectually curious and yet gets weird about being questioned or having to explain stuff, and vice-versa. It kind of shows how much of their ego/identity is wrapped up in being “a Doctor” versus working as a doctor, if that makes sense.
I used to run into it all the time at my previous employer (a healthcare clinic company), where there were a significant number of the doctors on staff who were really full of themselves and arrogant because they were Doctors, and the rest of us weren’t. And they weren’t very open to being questioned or challenged either- even when it was not actual physician stuff, but stuff like procedural and process questions about how they did stuff in the office and how it could be changed to get better data, etc…
A lot however, were little-d doctors, and were people who were cool about it- they were doctors and had their sphere of expertise, but were absolutely willing to concede that we knew more about IT than they did, and that when we asked process/procedure questions, that we had a job to do as well, and that we were all on the same team.
Excellent advice. I’m still hoping to find a dermatologist with better than average suturing skills. And one that doesn’t suspect every pimple and freckle to be a carcinoma in need of biopsy.
And a loved one went to their young doctor telling him that they thought they had vitiligo, the doc looks at the patches and said you want a Rx for steroid cream?
No, not really but? They sought a second opinion and that doc also young and female said no not vitiligo it’s tinea versicolor and all you need is OTC anti fungal product. Which worked.
And the therapist who without hesitation or further inquiry put my in-law on antidepressants because hisnwife said he was clinically depressed and she is not a doctor. So wtf. I tell my spouse let the dr diagnose your troubles because when you tell them you think you have this or that chances are you’ll walk out with an useless prescription
This is generally true throughout academic medicine (and not just surgery) where teaching hospitals are generally staffed by more uptodate physicians, assisted by definitely brighter trainees on average.
My faculty (Toronto) is ranked third in the world by NATURE and fourth by US News and World Report. Yes, I’m bragging but my point is that the trainees can make a huge difference and ours are routinely amazing.
So, . . . if you’re able to, go to a teaching hospital/facility.
One of my main criterion is a doctor who doesn’t spend all their time looking at their computer screen instead of paying attention to what I’m telling them. I don’t care what their ages are, but hey! Over here! My knee surgeon had an intern in the office with him to take computer notes while we had face-to-face, which I appreciated.
Same for me. One of my main requirements is that whoever it is listens to me and explains things to me clearly. Our PCP is a PA-C and she’s great at communication and she doesn’t hesitate to recommend specialists when she thinks our needs are beyond her abilities. The practice also includes several MDs, so they’re always at hand. I’m guessing she’s late 30s/early 40s.
Unfortunately, I didn’t consult her when I wanted to see an orthopedist about my shoulder, but I picked one from a well-regarded local practice. I only saw Dr. T. twice but each time I felt like I was a huge inconvenience, among other things. I never went back. In answer to the OP, she was about mid-career, but her age had nothing to do with her attitude.
Ages ago, I went to a new-to-me practice after hurting my back. Without even examining me or checking my range of motion or asking exactly what hurt, he wrote me a prescription for pain meds. I tossed it in the trash on my way out and never went to see him again.
In conclusion, I want a mid-career PCP who communicates. And if I need a surgeon, I want one who makes sure I’m out before the cutting begins.
My view is I want a competent doctor and age is not a factor. Competence includes not just medical knowledge but empathy and a willingness to engage in a collaborative doctor-patient relationship.
I’ve had both old and young doctors and liked them both. My previous PCP was old enough that I lost him to retirement. The current one is young but has been in practice for at least a decade so definitely not a newbie. One thing they both had in common was that they always ran late, but on the plus side, that was because they took the time to thoroughly evaluate their patients, which sometimes took longer than scheduled.
My favourite doctor of all time is my current cardiologist. He’s in my good books because, among other things, he saved my life when I had a heart attack. He’s also very thorough and hard-working and whenever I have any kind of medical test, like an ultrasound or blood work, he always calls me with the results, sometimes in the evenings or on weekends.
I have never had any issue with any personal interaction with a medical professional*. But then my encounters with them are very rare, maybe once every two years if that. I rock up, they assess the problem, they put forward a potential solution, they enact it, I partake of the regimen, I feel better, job done. Age, gender, race, nothing notably different between any of them that I can tell.
I’ve experienced this from both sides now, having spent the early part of my medical career in academic medicine and then in private practice.
There are certainly excellent and up-to-date MDs in academic medicine. Many of them are expected to carry a significant teaching and research role and may have limited interactions with patients. Those eager beaver trainees are likely to have a major role in your care. So if you go to Highly Rated Medical Center you may be seen and treated primarily by residents and fellows plus have the joy of medical students taking your history and doing physical examination along with everyone else. Hopefully, multiple rectal exams will not ensue.
Speaking from pathology experience, deadweight also exists in academic departments. Not everyone on a clinical service belongs there.
I agree with this approach, even though two times our young family med doc was hired away by an out of state academic health care system.
As far as picking specialists, my wife and I normally let our PCP do that. If our doc wants to see us in the office first, there’s a good reason for that.
My last haircut revealed a possibly concerning growth on my head. We uploaded a photo to our family doc, and she wrote back saying that it probably needed to be biopsied, and she gave the name of a dermatologist who she said she worked with for many years. He and his resident looked and it, during an in-person visit, and said it was not a concern.
My husband and I were just having that conversation last night about how disrespectful and unprofessional it is that some doctors are constantly on their laptops instead of having a conversation and making eye contact.
I know one time, many years ago, I had my daughter at a specialist and we could see that he was looking up her symptoms as we were explaining things to him.
As to the old or young doctor, I’ve had great experiences with both. Years ago, our primary was a group of very young doctors. They really listened, they were compassionate. When I had my foot surgeries, my surgeon wrote the textbook (no exaggeration), he did. He had years of experience, a great bedside manner and is probably one of the best docs I’ve ever had. So, as has been stated, age isn’t a factor give me someone competent and compassionate.