The Best M.D.s?

Doctors rank their own

Doctors like few things better than exchanging anecdotes about the deficiencies or skills of their colleagues. But most would rather give up their stethoscopes than publicly compare the relative abilities of their fellow physicians. Now, though, an enterprising medical writer, John Pekkanen, has enticed hundreds of doctors to rate some of their own. His new book, The Best Doctors in the U.S. (Seaview Books; $10.95), lists 2,500 of the nation's top specialists, judged so by their peers.

Pekkanen embarked on this two-year project with a personal sense of need. Because of a congenital heart defect, he has been plagued for much of his life with health problems that require medical attention. But, he says, " felt I had often been steered to second-rate people." Seeking the best, Pekkanen mailed out questionnaires to 500 specialists, tallied the more than 300 replies, then conducted follow-up telephone or personal interviews. The key question asked each physician: "If you or a member of your family were ill with a problem in your own specialty, whom would you go to for treatment?"

Promised anonymity, the doctors were often startlingly frank. One, asked about a colleague who was also a close personal friend, replied: "He just isn't top rank." Remarked a specialist of another: "I wouldn't take my dog to that quack." But the doctors were generous in their praise of other colleagues. The result is a book that lists the names and addresses of top-ranked physicians in specialties ranging from allergies to vascular disease and--as a bonus--throws in the names and locations of leading hospitals, clinics and specialty centers.

One caveat: merely knowing the names does not guarantee access to the doctors, even by telephone. Those listed are all superspecialists who usually handle only the most complex cases; they often accept only patients who are referred by another physician.

Doctors have reacted to the book much as society matrons do to the best-dressed lists. Some are flattered to be included, while others believe that any such ratings are unseemly. Still others fear being swamped by would-be patients. But the greatest concern is expressed by those who believe they have been passed over.

Though Pekkanen admits that a list of 2,500 (out of more than 400,000 physicians in the nation) omits many of the best, bruised egos abound. Ignored doctors have sent Pekkanen their multipage resumes, and the distraught wife of one physician forwarded even more convincing evidence of her husband's merit: a photograph of him with Merv Griffin.

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