Posted by Mike on January 06, 2003 at 16:05:12:
In Reply to: Will the local community hospital be ok for my Maze? posted by Henry Alken on January 05, 2003 at 16:32:03:
The research I did was staggering. I had no Internet in the late 80s, so I was relegated to research via doctors, calls, visits, and medical libraries. What I found, and you allude to this too, was that the psychology of the general population is to afford equal credibility to all doctors, simply because they know more than than the average person.
Initially, I found local doctors and cardiologists to be valuable, but as I progressed, I realized they were only springboards. I thought I'd come to the Mountain when I went to Houston, but when I visited Dr. Cox in St. Louis a year later, I knew Houston was probably five years behind (as Dr. Cox stated most everyone was).
People in vulnerable positions are hungry to rationalize and grab onto the first shiny object they find. This can often be someone who can do WPW, Maze, whatever, and they may get ~lucky~ and have good results, but they often don't realize the chance they're taking by not going with the best. Cox is not available, so even more scrutiny is needed to find someone who's good, not just someone who ~thinks~ they're good, reinforced by the patient's desire for them to be.