I, for one, couldn't agree more. The best MD I ever had was when my husband was active duty AF. The fellow was a black, pre-AA, military MD. Alas, all too shortly thereafter he retired from the AF, and went into private practice somewhere out of state. He's probably is making a million $$ a year...and, God bless him, he's worth every penny of it.
But like you said, things are now reversed. From bitter experience I now avoid younger (than, say 40) minority and/or female "health care providers" like the plague. I mean, holy mackeral!
The MDs I seek out now are asian-American males. B/c like your father's dentist 40 years ago it means he must be better -- a lot better-- than those others.
I'm not blaming you for your reactions, but what is shameful is that fully deserving minority individuals are painted with the same brush. I've told this story here before, but it won't hurt to tell it again.
I sat on a selection panel to for an important position. Far and away the best candidate for the position was a black woman. Better qualifications, better interview, better references. She won the selection in a rout.
Those that weren't selected naturally started a whispering campaign that she was a "quota hire." Nothing could be further from the truth. She would have won that position if she had been green with purple polkadots.
Through her work, she did earn the respect of everyone on the team assigned to the project, but the default impression a newcomer came in with was that she didn't honestly deserve her job.
My cheeks burn when I think of some of the comments I heard about her from those who hadn't worked with her. And, yes, I did what I could to set the record straight.