Dr. Michael Crookston, psychiatrist and medical director of LDS Hospital's Dayspring program, emphasizes the point with a tale of two doctors. One, a gifted doctor technically, puts off patients with a lousy bedside manner. Another, "one of the worst doctors I've seen," is well-loved by patients because he prays with them.

There are many things about their doctors that patients do not and cannot know. But patients aren't entirely powerless. They can ask their doctors questions: Do you have current board certification? How many surgeries like mine did you do last year? What's your success rate? Have you been in treatment for drug or alcohol abuse? Attorney Carney says, on that last one, not to be surprised if an outraged doctor kicks you out of his office.

Patients can ask if a doctor is properly trained to do the procedure. Where did the doctor learn to do varicose vein surgery? Will there be a nurse anesthetist present? If the dentist does orthodontics, where was he trained? Does he have board certification or did he just take a weekend course?

Toupta Boguena didn't think to ask whether the person who did her laser surgery in the summer of 2001 was qualified. The native of Chad, then a BYU student, wanted to look good for a wedding, so she called the number on an advertising coupon. It turned out that although a doctor ran the stand-alone laser clinic, he delegated operation of the laser to one of his staff who was not formally trained, and the laser itself wasn't recommended on people with dark skin. Boguena ended up with second-degree burns that disfigured her for months. She sued and won. Checking with DOPL would have made no difference. The physician has never been disciplined.

Patients can ask friends to recommend doctors they trust. And they can complain to the state if they believe a doctor poses a danger. When Janet Brown felt like her father's surgeon seriously botched what should have been a routine hernia surgery, the family talked seriously about suing. They complained to the hospital through an attorney, and they collected horror stories from the nursing staff about the doctor. It never occurred to any of them, she said, to call DOPL. According to DOPL's Web site, the doctor has never been disciplined.

"When all is said and done," says Carney, "the only real way to learn about who the bad and good doctors are is to be a doctor — or a trial lawyer. They, and no one else, know which closets have the skeletons. But the average patient is wandering in the dark without a lamp when it comes to choosing a physician."

Thankfully, he says, most of the time it doesn't matter. "The great majority of our doctors are well-trained and good, caring people doing their best, day in and day out. There are obviously those few who are not; a patient must just hope that she doesn't meet one."

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Monday: Second chances for doctors in trouble

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E-mail: jarvik@desnews.com; lois@desnews.com