<p>I think in consulting engineers tend to display diplomas. In most industry it would be considered tacky.</p>
<p>Having an RN/NP wife has given me some insider information on the people in the medical field. I know a MIT/Harvard Med physician I would never recommend, though the diplomas are impressive.</p>
<p>Internal Medicine =Medicine (3 Year residency most places) </p>
<p>I like to see the diplomas on the wall but I have usually researched the doctor first myself. I am less concerned with the educational background of my general practitioner who sees my family for routine matters, than I would be with a specialist or someone who was performing surgery on a family member. For serious matters I would like to see a well respected medical school. But equally as relevant to me is how long the surgeon has been practicing in that specialty and that he/she routinely performs that specific surgery. </p>
<p>I will admit to being leery of doctors who have gotten their degrees in the Caribbean or other islands. </p>
<p>IM is also the start of a specialty. Three years residency then lead to fellowships, etc. So an IM can certainly stop there, but they may decide to specialize in fields such as cardiology or nephrology</p>
<p>Can I just say that looking at several hundred thousand requests for doctors/dentists and what patients wanted to know, that the name of the medical school or the hospital where the residency was completed was requested by well under 2%. Docs often requested that the info be routinely pushed out, but to the vast majority of patients, it just doesn’t matter. (This is old data, but I have fairly recent confirmation that the situation is still the same.) </p>
<p>Of those who do ask, they ask about the medical school, and almost never the residency program. Doctors almost inevitably cite the residency as being more important. </p>
<p>People on CC are probably not typical of most patients – the top criteria general consumers wanted were: participates in my insurance plan, specialty, gender request, convenient office hours, hospital affiliation and age range. Nowadays they want to see a picture of the doc. We hope it isn’t a selfie.</p>
<p>Nowadays, I’d prefer to learn of my professional providers’ credentials via a website (medical faculty foundation, etc.). I’m cool with a terminal degree or fellow certificate (if that’s what it’s called) hanging in an office. I’m also fine with medical or psych docs using Dr. in their name/title anywhere in society and with professors with doctorates using Dr. as well, but only on campus or in education-relevant settings (conferences, etc.). I start rolling my eyes when those outside that group start hanging diplomas and certificates or placing their degree’s initials after their names, but that’s just me. And, when it comes to bumper stickers…oi. </p>
<p>…However, I do like how hanging diplomas or certificates can be used in certain circumstance to make a point, like some have mentioned above, of this ilk: I’m a staffer but I’ve got the professional credential when advising law students. </p>
<p>@harvestmoon</p>
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<p>???</p>
<p>Why? </p>
<p>I might want to see a well-respected residency program, but med school?
(not that I would know which residencies are the most respected for various specialties…lol)</p>
<p>All med schools in the US teach pretty much the same thing. “Well-respected med school” isn’t a concept that makes sense. If it’s in the US, it’s good. </p>
<p>". But equally as relevant to me is how long the surgeon has been practicing in that specialty and that he/she routinely performs that specific surgery."</p>
<p>Age means nothing. Some older docs don’t keep up, and some younger docs are aware of all the new procedures. </p>
<p>Far more important is affiliation with a teaching hospital. That ensures or at least aids in ensuring the person keeps up to date. </p>
<p>^^^^^True. When I worked in the cardiology ICU, I noticed that a lot of our young docs had just gotten all the state of the art training and the older docs would defer to them and refer their patients to them when new, hot off the press treatments were desired.</p>
<p>Nrdsb4, but is there a difference between a specialist who has performed a specific surgery 10 times and one that has performed that surgery 100 times? My reference in post #62 was not to a doctors age but to his/her experience in performing that specific surgery. </p>
<p>Somebody has to be that doctor’s first, second, third, fourth, etc. That’s why the affilitation with the teaching hospital is so important. Those who are teaching the younger docs how to do surgeries are, themselves, staying sharp. </p>
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<p>Yes, you always want to ask a surgeon how many times he has done a given procedure. Some procedures are very new, however, so you might not have the luxury of finding a doc with tons of experience in that procedure. When I had my lap choly, it was a very new procedure, and no one had done a lot of them.</p>
<p>Agree with PG above.</p>
<p>Tradition. I like it- as a physician myself it is fun to see when and where others trained. Ditto for other professions. Nice to see documentation for those in the financial world as well. Likewise in real estate offices. You are not required to examine them, you can ignore them.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for me my specialty didn’t give me an office to hang my stuff- anesthesiologist.</p>
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<p>I think this is very true. </p>
<p>These young docs are learning an amazing amount of info…and all the latest/greatest. </p>
<p>And…PG is right…US MD schools teach the same thing. </p>
<p>Hi. OP here… sorry didn’t respond until much later, had a bad cold and didn’t feel at all like going online.
You guys bring up a lot of good points. I frankly haven’t thought about questioning any doctor’s credentials by assuming that like someone here mentioned if they were trained in this country, they pretty much got the same kind of training. I can however say that I personally don’t place a lot of importance on the “pedigree” of the doctor.
Will never forget taking my son to a well known, well regarded allergist at the Chidlren’s Hospital of Philadelphia, waiting for months to get an appointment and then for hours to finally get in to see him only to find him to be a very arrogant individual who preferred to lecture us rather than listen and then finding a local allergist who is wonderful, same thing happened when my son needed therapy for his anxiety and a PhD had no clue how to approach him while the “measly” social worker with “only” a master degree did wonders for him. </p>
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<p>I switched GYNs a couple of years ago to someone who has a niche in working with women in transition (he no longer practices OB). He’s more than incredibly competent, can cite studies to back his approach, is widely sought after, and can be difficult to get in if you don’t schedule your appointments ahead of time. But he’s aloof as all get out. I decided early on that I could overlook that quality because I knew I wouldn’t find someone with his approach to perimenopause/menopause within an hour of my house, at the closest. So I stayed with him and have been very glad that I did, especially once I had to add in a endometrial cancer diagnosis to my medical history. I just know that his bedside manner is not what I’m seeing him for… it’s his expertise in a particular area.</p>
<p>The strange thing is, his office staff is probably the nicest group of office staff ladies that I’ve ever encountered. You can just tell it’s not the kind of physician’s office that has a lot of turnover with the staff; I can’t say that for some other doctors I go to. </p>
<p>"I switched GYNs a couple of years ago to someone who has a niche in working with women in transition "</p>
<p>I have to say, I read this and my mind went to gender transition and thought … hm, that’s a niche!</p>
<p>Haha… when my new internist first told me about the new doc, those were the exact words he used… ‘women in transition’. Even I didn’t know what that was then, because, well, I wasn’t in transition yet. I had to ask him. Now I know!</p>