Prestige of Lawyer vs Physician

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Not so. Being a prosecutor is a lot more intellectually demanding than being a family medicine doc.

I don't care to compare to lawyers, only to state that within medicine, Family medicine is very intellectually challenging. They must be able to care for adults, children, and often obstetrics (more in rural areas). Some of the best docs I've known have been family docs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Doctors. Definitely.

+1 and I am a lawyer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What lawyers fail to understand--repeatedly--is that most people consider them leeches (or cockroaches--pick your metaphor).

I grant my trash collector more prestige than I do pretty much any lawyer. At least he's doing an honest job for a fair wage.

What about when you get in a car accident or your ex is being difficult in a divorce case, or you have some other reason you need a lawyer. Yes plenty of lawywers are leeches but we live in a society where even your own mother will screw you over.

Being a doctor is prestigious but our medical system is a mess. One of the top debts people have are medical bills so some might consider doctors to be leeches also especially when you look at how some procedures and services are seriously being over charged.

Lawyers and judges help people resolve conflicts through negotiation or litigation, and through good planning prevent conflicts from happening. It's absolutely necessary that someone do this in any society. It's a noble calling to do.

People who abuse lawyers for being lawyers are idiots.

[Anonymous]

Without laws, humankind could not govern itself and we would descend into a form of chaos that would truly make everyone here get a bad case of the vapors. But folks need to be alive to do anything, as a baseline matter, so doctors win this competition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Without laws, humankind could not govern itself and we would descend into a form of chaos that would truly make everyone here get a bad case of the vapors. But folks need to be alive to do anything, as a baseline matter, so doctors win this competition.

Laws are necessary. Lawyers, not as much. Especially in the numbers in which they exist.

[Anonymous]

anyone can become a lawyer.....next to impossible to get a seat at a us med college nowadays...enough said

[Anonymous]

I put lawyers and car sales men at the same prestigious level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:anyone can become a lawyer.....next to impossible to get a seat at a us med college nowadays...enough said

There are more law schools than there are medical schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:well, when the doctor gets sued for malpractice who's he gonna call? "A dumb lawyer", thats who.

And when a lawyer gets sick, who's he gonna call??

[Anonymous]

Everyone who is weighing in on this question on either side is an asshole. Grow up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:anyone can become a lawyer.....next to impossible to get a seat at a us med college nowadays...enough said

There are more law schools than there are medical schools.

Well, I guess you answered the question...fewer means more prestige...

[Anonymous]

As a lawyer, I believe doctors are generally more prestigious simply because it is much harder to become a doctor. The undergraduate prep is harder, medical school is harder, and the post-grad training is harder. There are far fewer doctors than lawyers because it's hard to become a doctor.

However, I resent the arguments that posters are making about lawyers being unethical, idiots, etc. That is a ridiculous claim. There are good and bad lawyers, just like there are good and bad doctors. There are many, many lawyers out there doing great work for people. There are lawyers exonerating wrongly accused defendants, getting them out of jail, and doing that for free. Here's a good example: http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/assigned_to_appeal_capital_sentence_biglaw_attorney_gets_his_pro_bono_clien/.

So, please, all you lawyer haters, be quiet. The law, like medicine, is an honorable profession. There may be some bad apples in both professions, but that should not define us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Drs. However, there are plenty of idiots in both professions.

This. And the prestige of a surgeon trumps big-law partner any day of the week and twice on Tuesdays. And I am a lawyer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:anyone can become a lawyer.....next to impossible to get a seat at a us med college nowadays...enough said

There are more law schools than there are medical schools.

Correction - many can go to law school - that does not make you a lawyer. There are plenty of people who have gone to law school and either washed out after first year, or struggled through but can't pass the bar, and thus are not lawyers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a lawyer, I believe doctors are generally more prestigious simply because it is much harder to become a doctor. The undergraduate prep is harder, medical school is harder, and the post-grad training is harder. There are far fewer doctors than lawyers because it's hard to become a doctor.

However, I resent the arguments that posters are making about lawyers being unethical, idiots, etc. That is a ridiculous claim. There are good and bad lawyers, just like there are good and bad doctors. There are many, many lawyers out there doing great work for people. There are lawyers exonerating wrongly accused defendants, getting them out of jail, and doing that for free. Here's a good example: http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/assigned_to_appeal_capital_sentence_biglaw_attorney_gets_his_pro_bono_clien/.

So, please, all you lawyer haters, be quiet. The law, like medicine, is an honorable profession. There may be some bad apples in both professions, but that should not define us.

I agree with this, too.