In general, do you have more trust in a young(ish) or old(ish) doctor?

I prefer younger. No scientific basis, just think their education is more up to date.

I find that I am most comfortable with older, female nurses. I think this is because they give off that motherly feeling as older women and, as nurses, they know how to deal with people better than doctors do. At least, that’s how nearly all the nurses I know are.

For general care, I’m more comfortable with younger doctors. When I need to talk to a specialist about a specific condition, I’m more comfortable with someone that is older because of their experience.

My ophthalmologist is around 80. I’m very comfortable with him, because of his vast, vast experience.

It depends on what they’re doing. For a family doctor, newer is fine so long as they reach a baseline level of competence. For a surgeon, however, I’ll probably want someone who has a lot of hours under their belt. Also, while it’s true that the younger they are, the more accurate their med school info will be up-to-date, doctor’s still have to keep up a certain amount to remain licensed, and a lot of them will pursue a good deal more continuing education because otherwise they’ll get eaten alive by the competition.

Older. Experience is the best teacher. My GP looks just like Robert Wagner but he’s in his sixties. Whatzat got to do with it?
Nothing. Anyway, he was the head of a big hospital here or some bigwhig hands-on position and now he’s just in a clinic with one other doctor. Less stress. I do not appreciate going to a female doctor who is wearing a pony tail. That happened to me once; it was like I could have babysat for her.

It really does not matter. As long as I feel/get better.

@Aster What’s the problem with ponytails?

I prefer older so I can turn to them for advice…and younger If I’m doctor shopping for something odd

I love my doctor, he is maybe 5 years younger than me, probably 45–46.

Right in the middle of perfect. lol

He has the best sense of humor and is conscientious but not anal about every little thing.

He also volunteers at a clinic one day week and I think that is very altruistic of him to give his time and services to those in need.

I trust his knowledge and him implicitly.

Here’s my sexist, prejudiced answer…
I want a 45 year old male doc that went to med school in the US. I also want him to have graduated at the top of his class and be married for at least 18 years with two kids.
And I would prefer, although this is not absolutely required, that his fingers be very long and thin.
For you uninitiated, that helps with prostate exams.

It is gruesome to be examined by a young girl with a ponytail. Maybe I’m weird. Of course, it is also agony to be examined by a handsome doctor. I want an 85 yr old half-blind one.

@Aster Ok, but would it have been better if she had worn her hair down, or cut it short? What if it was a 65 year old (female) doctor with her hair in a ponytail? I get the young thing, I’m just not getting how the ponytail factors in.

It really doesn’t seem to matter much to me (neither does the gender of the doctor). I’ve had doctors in ages ranging from their 20s to their 50s and they were all great. I’ve never had a “bad doctor”, but I also haven’t had that many in the first place, either.

I can honestly say the thought never occurred to me…..until now. I suppose older if i’m pushed. More experienced etc.

@Aster: Maybe she was wearing a ponytail so her hair didn’t ahem fall onto or into anything important. Would you rather have a doctor with very long hair that’s falling onto you or into the medicine she’s administering?

@worriedguy: Hey, like I said, I prefer a female medical professional over a male one and I even prefer a nurse over a doctor. I getcha. :)

I prefer younger, I just feel more comfortable. Especially when they try to socialize with you about something other then what your there for.

**the ponytail accentuated how young she was.** I think it was sensible if she wanted to keep her hair out of things but a bun would have suited that just fine. I mean, what if she had braids with bows on the ends? Creepy.

I don’t care how how they are.

I lean toward @lucillelucillelucille‘s view—I don’t really care how old one is as long as he inspires my trust—though for the past few years every doctor I’ve gone to has looked very young to me. Experience counts, but so does current knowledge.

@Aster: I frequently put my hair in a ponytail or two braids because it keeps the hair out of my face. A bun takes more time and effort and, depending on the kind of hair she has, might not stay up.

@Aster But she didn’t have braids coming out of them. She also could have put glitter all over her body – but she didn’t.
Just FYI, if I want my hair out of my face, I can only do a ponytail, not a bun. With a ponytail, the weight is disbursed a bit, but in a bun, it’s all in one place, and compounds the pain from a previous neck injury to the point where I can’t hold my head up for more than 20 minutes or so without the help of a neck brace.
Was it a particularly young ponytail, or do you find all ponytails to be immature? I’ve seen many that seem to enhance a woman’s maturity and professionalism, not detract from it.

Was it a young ponytail? I do not find them to be immature. I am not making any sense to anyone today. I think they are very cute. I do not feel right with a doctor who has one and who looks like she’s twenty. So sue me. Cart me off to a mental hospital.

I like middle aged, they have seen more and have more practical experience. Having seen something in person is much better than seeing it in a book.

I have found no correlation between competence and age in a doctor. So I don’t think about their age.

I prefer that they have been in practice 10 years or so. Young enough that they were trained with modern techniques and old enough to have experience.

I never really focus on the age. I care that they seem to be up on new science, still reading information on their specialty; they are interested in the care of their patients; and they treat me like a partner in my health care rather than feeling superior in some way and dismissing my concerns, and I also include in this that I can easily get test results. I respect all of the years of education and traning a doctor goes through, and never try to say I know as much as a doctor about medicine, but I know a hell of a lot about my body, and I know when something is wrong.

So far age hasn’t factored into it and I’ve seen a good number of doctors and surgeons. I sometimes think the younger ones may try to keep up more on journals and workshops but you never really know, could be the older ones feel stable enough to take more time for those things.

I have had young doctors and older ones and haven’t had a problem with either. However, when I take my dogs to the vet I much rather they are seen by the older vet that works there as he seems to care more about the animals welfare and less about trying to get me to spend money unnecesserally like the younger vets that work there.

i like when they have experience but they also have to be update with technology and new methods that might work. So i’d like a doctor thats at least 40 years old.

Younger. I think the older doctors may have lost some of their marbles, or may still think “bleeding” is a good cure. I like someone young and well-educated, fresh out of college, with the most updated information and recent enough to still remember it.

@Skaggfacemutt although I do agree that younger can sometimes mean they are more up on current methods, I don’t understand the bleeding example? Blood letting is a treatment for some things, especially for people who have too much iron, which is dangerous for the heart.

@JLeslie Ewww. I thought blood letting was a medieval thing.

@Skaggfacemutt See treatment at the bottom.

@JLeslie I thought you were going to refer to the leeches.

@Adirondackwannabe I think sometimes leeches are still used for some things, that is kind of ewww. LOL. But, there is some sound science behind it for some conditions.

@JLeslie They are used. I couldn’t remember exactly why they worked so good, but they’re used.