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From: CKP
Remote Name: 128.227.127.17
Date: 07/11/02
Time: 08:27:29 PM
I basically agree about the importance of experience, but the catch is that if you go to a teaching hospital, which is where the most experienced surgeons are, then it becomes a real issue of how much "your" surgeon does and how much the residents do. I know of situations where the surgeon who bills did not pick up a scalpel.
And of course, you can ask all the questions you want, but you are not really going to know:)
The other downside of teaching hospitals is that in order for everyone to get their hand in, they sometimes leave a patient under anesthesia much longer than they would at a private hospital. My ENT told me that the surgeons at the University were taking up to 8 hours for procedures that took 2 hours at the community hospital in town.
So I don't think there are any easy answers.
(For me, I went with a doctor in private practice and had only done about 150 lap Nissens, but who had really excellent training in minimally invasive surgery. My outcome couldn't have been better.)