I'd prefer to keep thinking for myself. My doctor works for me, not the other way around. He's a primary source of information for sure, but, they're my decisions.
Can you give an example of a situation where you feel your own research puts you in better position to diagnose and treat a serious medical condition than your physician?
Plus, physicians can't/don't force you to take medicines, have tests done, or have surgeries. That's what consent is for.
They advise, then you can do with it what you want. Don't want to take the medicine they prescribed? Then don't. Don't think the surgery is necessary? Don't have it. Don't think you need the CT scan? Don't go have it done.
And best part: Don't like your physician? Go find another one.
So now we're in the quandary of making those decisions and the OP, and I think you're trying g to agree with him, thinks the only information you should consider in making those decisions is exactly what your DR told you. And it is a primary source of information. So would a second opion if you get one. But I still prefer to include my research, and more importantly my experiences as being the closest to the actual issue, and whatever other information is available to make those decisions.
Information is power and anyone making any decision ought to use any and all information available. You do that in business, you do that in relationships, you do that in every aspect in life. Suggesting your health is somehow different is absurd.
And the argument that some are suseptible to disinformation and AI is making people less smart is a different argument. But you still wouldn't tell them to listen solely to once source of information when making a business or relationship decision.
When you say "my research", what exactly is that?
Are you reading medical studies from journals written by doctors/clinical scientists? If so, are you able to determine good quality studies from not?
If so, do you think you're reading something your physician hasn't read yet? Do you feel your physician doesn't stay up to date? Why do you trust THOSE doctors but not the one you're seeing?
If it's not the above but from other sources, do you think there might be a reason your physician isn't reading "your research"? What makes this other research more helpful despite not being accepted into qualified, respected journals?
Do you feel "your research" is enough to override what your physician is recommending?
I'm genuinely curious about the above.
To answer your question, yes, I do think your physician, who has received vast training to take care of your health, should be your primary source of information. If you don't trust that physician, then get a second opinion or find another physician. But no, I don't think "your research" should play much of a factor except in very rare instances.
If I hire an engineer for a project, I'm not researching it myself and checking his work. I already made the pilot comment above. Etc.
I find it a bit much to think I could spend any amount of reading on those subjects above and think it would even remotely compare to their knowledge in that field that they specifically trained years for.
Ive found the third most valuable piece of information is found by talking with others that have had the surgery or decided not to and their outcomes, successes and regrets. Everyone knows somebody who has had a hip replacement right? And pretty soon that leads to finding out which hip surgeon is the best and which ones to avoid. For example.
The second most important is what your doctors says.
But the very most important piece of information is what your body is telling you. Every surgery we've had we knew it was time. I just can't take the hip pain anymore, something has to be done! And despite exrays and exams saying otherwise there are surgeries likely in the future that we do not need now. Bone on bone with huge spurs, doctor can't believe that shoulder even works!
And any doctor worth his salt will start with #1 above.
Ok, so, that's helpful....
1). Talking to others that have had the surgery. I think that's a GREAT way to find a doctor in your area for that specific surgery or maybe specialist or whatever. Then you can go see them and trust them and their expertise. I would 100% agree that everyone should do this, especially for specific conditions or considering surgery. I don't consider that "doing my research" in any way that was meant by the OP. And this will be location dependent.
2) At the same time, using anecdotal information from the people you talk to about whether or not to have it done, that I would NOT agree with. Even if you found 100 people and asked each about their experience, the surgeon has almost certainly done 10x-100xs more of the actual procedure. If it's not successful or recommended, they aren't going to continue to offer it as an option. No surgeon wants patients that aren't happy and do worse after surgery than before. That's just common sense. So, you might find 10 people that all say "man, don't get the hip surgery, it's been awful". But, if your surgeon is still recommending it, there is likely something specific about your case that may warrant that and is different from your anecdotes. And your surgeon's "n" is far greater than yours with intimately more knowledge about pros and cons.
So, that's an example of your own research I would definitely disagree with. I think having the discussion of "hey, I've talked to some people that had it done and they had this negative experience, can you elaborate on why that may be and why you are still recommending it" is definitely worthwhile so you can get a better understanding.
But if you're telling me that you talking to 10 people that tell you they had hip replacement and it went bad and your surgeon is recommending hip replacement and you are siding with the 10 people over your doctor, then I think that's not wise. At all.
3) What your body is telling you isn't "my research". That's part of the discussion you have with your doctor. If he's recommending no surgery and you think "I need this because of x symptoms or pain", then you have a shared discussion. And, if you still don't feel comfortable, then absolutely get a 2nd opinion. Or even a 3rd. That is also very reasonable, but that's not "doing my own research" as what was intended in the OP at all.
So, interestingly enough, most of what you wrote out is normal patient behavior and is very different from "I did my own research" that OP was referring to.
And I'm glad you actually clarified and explained it as you did. We are in far more agreement than not, I think.