What immediately jumps out at me is that both hypothetical surgeons described are men; patients consistently assume that my wife (neurosurgeon) is a nurse, and that the tall man in his 50's (a PA) is the surgeon. She doesn't even bother correcting them most of the time, it's not worth the effort.
I would say that if you have no other information, pick the female (and preferably minority) surgeon. I know a lot of excellent white male surgeons, but within my circle of acquaintances, a randomly selected woman is unquestionably a better option than a randomly selected man.
I would say that if you have no other information, pick the female (and preferably minority) surgeon. I know a lot of excellent white male surgeons, but within my circle of acquaintances, a randomly selected woman is unquestionably a better option than a randomly selected man.