Well, it's not exactly like doctors just get their sheepskin and never have to hit the books again. Most states require doctors to complete a certain number of hours of continuing/supplemental education each year in order to maintain their credentials/licenses; how much can vary depending on the state and specialty.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continu...ical_education

For more info./examples, Google: doctors continuing education

I think of my doctor/patient relationships as team efforts; we listen to and learn from each other. The thing is that, in addition to learning medicine, doctors also learn (and practice) a particular way of thinking, and it's enormously helpful if/when patients learn how their doctors think so that we're not constantly butting heads or at odds, and so we can help them help us more effectively.

HINT: There is a book entitled How Doctors Think (which I think is a good book, but it tends to predominate searches). To get around that, Google: how doctors think -groopman
The book was written by a Dr. Groopman; placing a minus(-) sign in front of his name tells Google to ignore pages that contain that word/name, which should eliminate most of the pages pertaining to that book.

I've also found it helpful to just have a conversation with a doctor to find out what kinds of documentation/evidence they prefer. Most are more open-minded than we think (or than they used to be) once we know their preferences/rules/way of thinking/doing things.

Doc