Female vs Male doctors differ in recommendations?

yes, very interesting . I am fairly certain I've never seen a discussion of lump vs. bmx framed this way. I don't think it would be easy to reach any conclusions based on your friends experience and your assumptions about why male docs would go for lumpectomies over mx. Might make an interesting research study, but in the end, I hope that the decision over which surgery to go with is based on the patients best medical interests, not the surgeons gender.

I had conversations with two surgeons (female) and my MO (male) and all three pushed the lumpectomy. They gave the same reasoning to me......there have been numerous studies on the long-term benefits of both and the outcomes are the same either way. Why put myself through a much bigger surgery with more drastic results when I could have a quick outpatient surgery with minimal scarring and a quick recovery time if I got no added benefit. However they did say if my genetic test showed anything they would then recommend the mastectomy.

But regardless of my decision, they did all tell me it was my choice and they would support me either way. I think that's most important- a doctor should give the patient enough information to allow them to make an informed decision they feel is best for them and then support it.

I know this is going to sound odd but maybe it also depends on whether the doctor is a breast man or not........I think that could make a difference.......often male doctors can put their beliefs on to women

I don't think such a small sample size can allow for those kind of conclusions. Especially not when their position can also be dependent on what the approach was at time they went to medical school/did their training, whether they are up to date on current medical recommendations and approaches, their own patients' experiences, and so on.

Many doctors, whatever their sex, promote breast conserving surgery wherever possible, because yes, for the average breast cancer patient, lx + radiation has similar outcomes to mx, and generally mx (especially with recon) is a much larger surgery and can have greater risk of negative side effects (like post-mx pain, reconstruction complications if going with recon, etc).

I agree with Siren, the most important thing is to have a doctor ready and willing to provide their patients with the information required to make an informed choice, and to be supportive of that decision.

I want the most competent care/Dr I can get - period. It doesn't matter to me if they are male or female. My surgeon, chemo Dr and rads Dr were men - they were all fantastic. I have heard that some women do not like my chemo Dr as he is very to the point and not 'gentle'. This is a lot of why I like him - I want to be given info 'straight out' - not 'sugar coated'. That's what I want. I've only had 3 female 'Drs' in my life - my PC PA (of 18 yrs), my Dermatology PA and my Psychiatrist (I'm SAD and ADD - yes, women can be ADD and even old women). They are also very to the point.

When the boys were young , they had women pediatricians a few times but except for one, I always preferred the men. Hubby's favorite Dr was a woman Flight Surgeon. We are all so different. Bottom line is we need to feel comfortable with who we see and not all AFR right for all others.