How do i check competency of a doctor??

Question

My doctor recommended I have surgery but i want to get a second opinion, so a friend recomened her doctor to me. Since then Ive been online trying to check on both doctors backgrounds, references, credentials for the surgery, ect...but i just cant find anything worthwhile. I checked the AMA website and AMBS.org website but it only tells me where they work and where they went to school.
How do i know which doctor is best suited to perform my surgery? Where do i find useful (and free) info on these doctors? Is there a "ripoff report" style website for doctors, or a "zagat" guide for doctors?

Answer 1

Here are a few sites that you may find helpful:

http://www.doctorscorecard.com/
http://www.ratemydoctor.net/
http://www.mdnationwide.org/index.html
http://www.ratemds.com/index.jsp
http://www.mdjunction.com/

Good luck in your search!!

Answer 2

There is no one substantial agency, unfortunately, that governs such information. It is mainly a matter of sharing information and checking references for the most part. You can find out if a doctor has any history of suspensions etc. by contacting your state medical board. They should give you the information for free. That is a good place to start.

Answer 3

This is a surprisingly deep question. How do we evaluate the work of people who do work we cannot do ourselves? Not only can we not do it, but now we're supposed to EVALUATE how well others do it? We're simply unable to do that. It's called the Expert Paradox.

Not much help, I know.

Good luck.

Answer 4

ask the doc for the # of times hes done that type of procedure, and chech with your state medical board they keep track of complaints and lawsuits and those type things

Answer 5

ask people that work at the hospital where he works

Answer 6

what you do is.. make sexy moves on the both of them... whichever one makes you feel better, is the right one.

Answer 7

TALK GIBBERISH TO HIM...IF HE PRETENDS TO UNDERSTAND....HE'S BAD