Prestige of Lawyer vs Physician

[Anonymous]

Been arguing this with a colleague -

I believe lawyers are more prestigious than physicians, as a whole. Big law lawyers are more prestigious than almost any physician.

My colleague believes certain specialties in medicine are more prestigious than big law, including anesthesiology, radiology, ophthalmology, and dermatology.

Any dcum opinions?

[Anonymous]

Doctors. Definitely.

[Anonymous]

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

[Anonymous]

Doctors no question.

[Anonymous]

Doctors since anyone can go to law school. Thanks ABA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Doctors since anyone can go to law school. Thanks ABA.

+1

[Anonymous]

Op here. My argument is as follows-

JD is more intellectual than MD
JD has much higher salary potential
JD is much more versatile - the prestige speaks for itself in many industries
JD ceiling is higher - Supreme Court justices have no medical counterpart near as prestigious
JDs in big law get car service, catered lunches, and suits - MDs have cabs/trains, cafeteria, and scrubs
JDs are sole in their ability to practice law - MDs have DO and foreign competition
JDs charge by hour - MDs have to deal with government dictated reimbursements


How are docs more prestigious?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. My argument is as follows-

JD is more intellectual than MD
JD has much higher salary potential
JD is much more versatile - the prestige speaks for itself in many industries
JD ceiling is higher - Supreme Court justices have no medical counterpart near as prestigious
JDs in big law get car service, catered lunches, and suits - MDs have cabs/trains, cafeteria, and scrubs
JDs are sole in their ability to practice law - MDs have DO and foreign competition
JDs charge by hour - MDs have to deal with government dictated reimbursements


How are docs more prestigious?

All the great perks may exist at BigLaw, which, remember, is for the top 10% of the class at the best law schools, and this may have been the case before 2008. And there are 9, count them, 9, Supreme Court justices out of the hundreds of thousands of lawyers. And charging by the hour is going away as clients are fed up with that practice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. My argument is as follows-

JD is more intellectual than MD
JD has much higher salary potential
JD is much more versatile - the prestige speaks for itself in many industries
JD ceiling is higher - Supreme Court justices have no medical counterpart near as prestigious
JDs in big law get car service, catered lunches, and suits - MDs have cabs/trains, cafeteria, and scrubs
JDs are sole in their ability to practice law - MDs have DO and foreign competition
JDs charge by hour - MDs have to deal with government dictated reimbursements


How are docs more prestigious?

Med school is much harder. And the average doctor is much smarter/has higher quantifiable characteristics than the average lawyer (like SAT scores).

I was a biglaw lawyer. My husband is a doctor. People are/were much more impressed by him than they are with me (and we went to similarly ranked programs).

[Anonymous]

I went to a top 3 law school and worked in big law. Doctors are more prestigious, hands down.

[Anonymous]

How is a pediatrician making 80k more prestigious than a big law partner?

[Anonymous]

Does a Stanford trained pediatrician out prestige a Stanford lawyer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. My argument is as follows-

JD is more intellectual than MD
JD has much higher salary potential
JD is much more versatile - the prestige speaks for itself in many industries
JD ceiling is higher - Supreme Court justices have no medical counterpart near as prestigious
JDs in big law get car service, catered lunches, and suits - MDs have cabs/trains, cafeteria, and scrubs
JDs are sole in their ability to practice law - MDs have DO and foreign competition
JDs charge by hour - MDs have to deal with government dictated reimbursements


How are docs more prestigious?

A Supreme Court Justice is a judge, not a lawyer. Judges and doctors are closer in prestige level than lawyers and doctors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How is a pediatrician making 80k more prestigious than a big law partner?

Prestige is not dictated solely by salary. It's about how you are viewed by others.

Perhaps the question you are trying to answer is-which profession has the potential for a more lavish lifestyle as that seems to be what is prioritized in your list of reasons that lawyers are more prestigious.

[Anonymous]

^^ If it's all about the money, hedge fund managers FTW!