The Principle of Rational Discussion

Whenever I go to a new doctor, I always hope they are well educated, have decent experience in their field of work, are patient, and care about their patients. This ties into the Principle of Rational Discussion and according to Chapter 4 in Epstein’s text, under this principle, “we assume that the other person who is discussing with us or whose arguments we are reading:
-knows about the subject under discussion
-is able and willing to reason well
-is not lying.” (60).
Like the text mentioned, “the Principle of Rational Discussion is not telling us to give other people the benefit of the doubt.” Rather, it shows us how to be able to “reason with someone.”
An example of this, (going back to when I see a new doctor or ask for a second opinion). When I was younger, close to a decade ago, I went to see a doctor on a condition and he said that surgery was my only option, and if I didn’t then this condition would always be there. He explained how this procedure would fix my problem however when I asked him questions on what is the success rate of this procedure working or if I wait in a few years, can I do it then? The reason why I asked him these questions was because truth of the matter was what I had/have CAN be fixed by surgery but it is not mandatory. What I had could indeed be fixed other ways. Both did not guarantee the issue to go away forever. The doctor also told me since I denied his request to proceed with the surgery, then do not come back unless you want the surgery. This doctor’s diagnosis was based on a quick and easy fix and did not want to discuss other options. To him the surgical procedure was simple, to me it was not. He also laid out the plan for the cost the first time I went to him. In the end, I felt we could not have a rational discussion because he was not willing to reason with me, and cared more about the quick fix. I received a second opinion, and they said that surgery could have complicated things for me more in the future and there were other ways to help get rid of the condition.