When you get a medical opinion, you have to rely on the medical expertise of doctor. You don't have a better option. If you get a second opinion, and it is the same as the first one, you intuitively know it's more trustworthy. But what happens when the second opinion contradicts the first one? Who do you believe? How do you rank each scenario by the "trustworthiness" of opinion? How would one go by valuing the trustworthiness of multiple differing opinions, as is common in dentistry?
Ask HN: How to choose which dentist or doctor to believe?
1–10 of 15 posts
Re: Ask HN: How to choose which dentist or doctor to believe?
#2If opinions differ, I go check the science.
Re: Ask HN: How to choose which dentist or doctor to believe?
#3If opinions differ, I go check the science.
Do you really do that? It feels like a lot of wasted time...
Re: Ask HN: How to choose which dentist or doctor to believe?
#4If opinions differ, I go check the science.
Do you really do that? It feels like a lot of wasted time...
Yes, if it's about my health, finance etc, I go check the science. I don't factcheck all opinions I hear, I don't care about the majority of it (actually I try to not even hear it if it's not relevant enough to warrant checking the science).
Re: Ask HN: How to choose which dentist or doctor to believe?
#5Like emteycz I check the science. I will also ask others who might have the same issue. And depending on severity get a 3rd, 4th, or even 5th opinion. Like emteycz said: Its your health. Of course this depends on how serious the issue is. Often its an issue where both can have valid solutions. Or there could be something one missed that the other caught.
Re: Ask HN: How to choose which dentist or doctor to believe?
#6[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: How to choose which dentist or doctor to believe?
#7One instinct I've learned from software engineering and the internet is that professionals are often wrong. The symptoms of a bad doctor are very similar to that of bad developers. Same with bad cooks, bad contractors, and so on.
The main symptom is contempt. You ask them a few questions or mention a second opinion, and their face turns into a scowl. Some are outright insulting, saying that X is a moron, without having enough information to make that judgement. Whenever I meet a doctor like this, I look for a second opinion, and very often it contradicts.
The next is buzzword. My child had a fever for a very long time and was hospitalized. A good pediatrician said "It could be Kawasaki disease... but it doesn't meet any of the other symptoms". A not very good one said "It's definitely Kawasaki disease, can't be anything else."
The third is well, passion. I know everyone hates the word, but I find a correlation. The worst doctors I've met are often trying to do anything except their job - they pitch unnecessary supplements, overcharge, talk about their stock investments. The great ones try to make you healthy; they end up undercharging, recommend cheap alternatives to their pills, volunteer for charity organizations, waive their consulting fees, and so on.
I realize this is a very subjective and biased way of looking at it, but it's worked well for me.
Re: Ask HN: How to choose which dentist or doctor to believe?
#8If opinions differ, I go check the science.
Do you really do that? It feels like a lot of wasted time...
My wife does this too (she's of engineering background). It's surprising how well this works even with a quick search. Many times even the doctors have asked her whether she's actually a doctor.
It's also useful for having proper discussions. The doctors will discuss the details they're unsure about, which also helps you in discussing with the next doctor. If one doctor is very sure about one thing, and another isn't, that's a yellow flag.
Re: Ask HN: How to choose which dentist or doctor to believe?
#9If opinions differ, I go check the science.
I agree. PubMed is a great resource for this.
Re: Ask HN: How to choose which dentist or doctor to believe?
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you really do that? It feels like a lot of wasted time...
My wife does this too (she's of engineering background). It's surprising how well this works even with a quick search. Many times even the doctors have asked her whether she's actually a doctor. It's also useful for having proper discussions. The doctors will discuss the details they're unsure about, which also helps you in discussing with the next doctor. If one doctor is very sure about one thing, and another isn't…
That could be a yellow flag in either direction - a less knowledgeable person might be overly confident, or the less knowledgeable person might be unsure.