Every doctor is different. If you show a desire to engage with a doctor, and get the right one, you can have one that does research. When I started on cholesterol-managing medication, my physician emailed me three recent journal articles on the effectiveness of different options and the dosing considerations. It all depends on who you have, and how they run their practice.
I agree that there are good doctors, but I'd rather not have it be such a crap shoot. The consistency and depth of knowledge provided by an expert system of some sort seems like the way to go.
I'd imagine the proportion of "good" doctors might be about the same as good programmers, or good teachers, though probably exceeds the supply of "good" politicians.
Point is medical care is only as good as the quality of the "team" consisting of the doctor and the patient. It's a partnership, an expression of the doctor-patient relationship. Not every two people will form a natural team, after all, many marriages fail.
It's kind of a cliche, but still true, find a doctor you can work with, someone you can trust and relate to. More likely than not, that's the the definition of a "good" doctor.
