[dkubb]

Maybe it's not the norm, but I've read about new findings in the past, mentioned them to my family doctor and found that he's familiar with the same studies.

Like developers, I'm sure there are doctors who just do their 9-5 and go home, while others continue to study, attend conferences and discuss new techniques with other doctors. Also similarly it's hard for the people who hire them ("us") to differentiate between them unless we have domain specific knowledge or someone who does and we trust to recommend a good doctor.

[abi]

That's an interesting point you bring up. Differentiating doctors is even harder than differentiating developers because at the least, developers can show you their work/portfolio. But for doctors, what are the external indicators of goodness? Perhaps, having intelligent conversations with each one might tell you something but even that is merely a fraction of the whole picture. I'd be interested in reading studies about how people pick their doctors (historically and now). Opinions of friends would probably be an important factor. And perhaps, race too.

[wallflower]

My uncle is a specialist and when I visited him a few years ago and asked what he did for fun/off-work - he pointed at the piles and stacks of journals on his specialty. Continuing Medical Education (CME) helps ensure all board-certified doctors keep their skills current.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuing_medical_education