Not in line here.  I have only met one doctor I didn't like and didn't
trust.  Now days they are not like the old country doctor and have time
to sit down and chat but I never found one that didn't explain the
problem and what they were going to do about it.  But what I am saying
is that they are not going to spend the time to sit down and talk for an
hour and give me a long medical explanation about the details.    Not
when their schedule usually requires seeing a patient every ten minutes.
 That is up to you to research if you are that interested.  Much like
everyone here is doing.    They got a lot of expensive equipment (PVP
for example) to pay for.  Not like 50 years ago when they bought an
examination table and a stethoscope and went into business.

Now the UROs have to come up with a million or so more to pay for the
new PVP machine.  They gotta see a lot of 10 minute appointments (that's
all your insurance company will pay for) to pay for that as well as
their rent and malpractice insurance.

You can see why they don't really want us Medicare patients either.  I
see the bills come in where the Dr. says that will be $50.  Medicare
says here is $20, take it or leave it.

Hi, Pete.

I can't help wondering what those 75 doctors thought about you!

I too have had a few docs and I have great respect for most of them.
Most seemed genuinely concerned about me, their patient. They took
some time to describe what was up. But it is a fine balance for them.
I can sense some impatience (maybe on my part just as much as on
theirs) when we get into the details of an annyoing ache in my knee
when there are life and death issues in the waiting room.

And it's a business for the docs. They have bills to pay,
responsibilities to their staff, etc., and I'm sure they look at the
costs/benefits of business decisions, as they should.

My first uro was a dud. He was fresh out of school and trying to build
a practice. He was pushing me towards surgery. That would have been a
nice piece of business for him. Just like the local garage talking you
into new CV joints that you don't need. The new uro is great (and has
a busy practice). My GP is wonderful and I trust him.

Many docs are reluctant to give the patient detailed info about the
condition in question. Maybe they feel the patient doesn't need to
know. Or maybe the doc doesn't really know. Or maybe they are
protective of what they took 10 years to learn, or maybe it's that
they like the air of mystery and power. It could also be (in some
cases) that they might say something that isn't correct any more and
the patient will start to argue with them. And that is a problematic
situation, because the doc is the expert, not the patient, otherwise
why is the patient seeing the doc?

So I think some diplomacy is needed. Let the doc tell you what he
wants to tell you, then ask questions carefully and don't take too
much time (remembering the waiting room). After the visit, do your own
research; become an expert on your own if you want. Then on the next
visit, you can ask more good questions.

Ed