"do your own research" may get mocked, but it's often the best strategy. You just have to make sure it's the right place, professional guidelines, pubmed, and anyone referencing those is usually best. A good doctor won't have issues discussing something from that kind of source.

Having dealt with the medical system recently, if there isn’t immediate harm involved with waiting, always advocate for yourself and consider a second opinion. The doctors will think you’re annoying and that you trust the internet too much but it’s their job to make you understand why elective procedures are necessary. Don’t let someone trying to rush to their next patient hurt your health outcome. I think in emergency situations this all changes though.

Always advocate and avoid delegation to experts who have little stake in the outcome.

How is it any different for non-mainstream medicine? How do you know if what your homeopath is telling you is accurate?

> This is why people are moving away from main stream medicine, in my opinion.

What other type of medicine is there? Most "non-mainstream" things are pseudoscience nonsense.