West or East Valley more diverse?

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Well said.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

azriverfan. I certainly agree with a lot of what you are saying. Just because someone works at the Mayo or went to school at the Mayo doesn't make them a great doctor. What is DOES mean is they are incredibly smart.


From http://www.usnews.com/education/best...ceptance-rates
" At the Mayo Medical School, the school with the lowest acceptance rate in the country, only 87 of last year's 3,989 applicants were admitted.

That's 2.2%! In summary, if you go to the Mayo, you are smart and you have a 70% chance of getting into your 1st residency choice. Putting it another way, chances are extremely strong you would be denied acceptance to the Mayo (based solely off of statistics). So would nearly every applicant. If you were scary smart, I think you would agree that has some advantages. Not so necessary for most procedures but when I need to lean on the best, I'm going to poke around at the Mayo.

As you know, medical schools are full of students that get 75% on their biochem tests and it was later curved to an A. The Mayo is full of those freaky students that get 100% on their tests. Sometimes smart enough isn't good enough. We agree that in 95% of the medical visits, smart enough IS good enough.

Here is one example (I have several Mayo Doc customers). One of my younger customers got his Masters in Chemistry by the time he was 20 and his PHD at age 22. He got a 43 on his MCAT and had a letter of recommendation from a Nobel prize winner. He was one of those lucky 2.2%. The guy has fantastic communication skills and he is a walking database. He is a radiologist and now works at the Mayo (and went to school at the Mayo).

I love the fact that the Mayo is in our back yard and it is full of brilliant doctors. When my son went to a pediatric cardiologist, he went to two cardiologists at the UofMN to get misdiagnosed. As a layman, I knew the label was B.S. Dr. Driscoll at the Mayo straightened it out. If you were in pediatic cardiology, you would have read his text books no matter what school you attended. If it wasn't for his name and his credentials my son would not have gotten an appointment to WestPoint (medical waiver). That was a $315K scholarship. He has $315K reasons to be appreciative of the Mayo!

I for one look at the Mayo as a litmus test. It doesn't mean you are a better doctor but it surely isn't all marketing.

[Captain Bill]

When I had a problem last year I went to the Mayo, and they discovered it immediately.

My wife had a problem and, after a procedure by a doctor in Chandler, he told her that she had a phantom problem, and that people would think she's crazy. He told her this while she was in recovery, so she didn't remember it. When he said that, I almost came unglued because my wife never complains unless something is seriously bothering here; which is not often.

I kept quiet, otherwise I would have caused a scene in the recovery room where a lot of patients were, and I didn't think that would be wise.

The next day I told my wife what he said, and she was livid. She made an appointment with our family doctor, who had referred her to him, and told him that she would never see this doctor again. We were better served by informing our doctor of his unprofessional attitude, and by using his name when telling friends about his rude conduct.

I took her to Mayo, and they put her through a series of tests with several doctors with different specialties. It was difficult to determine the problem because the symptoms were pointing to something else. But they found it.

The beauty of this is that all the testing was done either at Mayo Phoenix or Scottsdale, and all the Dr. appointments were at Mayo Phoenix, and each doctor had complete access to her records in one database.

Each of these doctors, plus the residents that would on occasion be given a task, were superior; and we have been to a lot of doctors throughout our lives, for us and for our children. The Mayo doctors were extremely patient in asking her questions, and more questions, so they could obtain a better understanding of her problem. And when on occasion I had something to add, they listened intently to me. We were never rushed in any of the appointments.

A part of her problem but not all of it may have required surgery. The surgeon, after the tests, said that he did not feel she needed surgery for this particular problem, and especially he would not want to do it until they found the source of the other symptoms.

Their goal was to only put her through a sufficient number of tests to determine the problem, but not an excessive number; and to avoid surgery unless it was necessary. Some of the testing, those not requiring anesthesia, cost a little more because they do not take medicare assignment for these tests.

But the skills of their doctors and the quality of their tests, are worth every penny. That's why people come from all over the country for treatment at the Mayo.

It's probably also why so many doctors go there for treatment. When they call names out to go to the appointment room, I hear a doctors name called out fairly frequently.