Prestige of Lawyer vs Physician

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A partner at cravath is more prestigious than a pediatric cardiologist

A law professor at almost any law school is more prestigious than a Harvard trained anesthesiologist

A judge is more prestigious, at any level, than a community general surgeon


I think of law schools as having more lay prestige than medical schools.

"I went to Yale law" has more cachet than "I'm a physician who trained at Yale"

What the hell is cravath?

Big, prestigious law firm. Which is why the comparisons don't make sense. You would need to compare a partner at Cravath with a surgeon at a top program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A partner at cravath is more prestigious than a pediatric cardiologist

A law professor at almost any law school is more prestigious than a Harvard trained anesthesiologist

A judge is more prestigious, at any level, than a community general surgeon


I think of law schools as having more lay prestige than medical schools.

"I went to Yale law" has more cachet than "I'm a physician who trained at Yale"

What the hell is cravath?

Big, prestigious law firm. Which is why the comparisons don't make sense. You would need to compare a partner at Cravath with a surgeon at a top program.

Not pp. Well, I don't think that. Any garden-variety pediatric cardiologist is pretty darn prestigious, in my book. A partner at Cravarth is also impressive, of course. But heart surgery on a baby? That's really impressive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A partner at cravath is more prestigious than a pediatric cardiologist

A law professor at almost any law school is more prestigious than a Harvard trained anesthesiologist

A judge is more prestigious, at any level, than a community general surgeon


I think of law schools as having more lay prestige than medical schools.

"I went to Yale law" has more cachet than "I'm a physician who trained at Yale"

What the hell is cravath?

Big, prestigious law firm. Which is why the comparisons don't make sense. You would need to compare a partner at Cravath with a surgeon at a top program.

Not pp. Well, I don't think that. Any garden-variety pediatric cardiologist is pretty darn prestigious, in my book. A partner at Cravarth is also impressive, of course. But heart surgery on a baby? That's really impressive.

That would be a cardio-thoracic surgeon

[Anonymous]

I'm a former BigLaw lawyer, from a top ranked law school. My good friend is an ER doctor, from a middle-ranked school.

I am blown out with respect for her. She actually can make a real difference--a life and death difference, and does all the time.

I'm almost 50 and so are many of my friends, so a common theme is: "I am entering into the second half of my life. I want to leave the planet a better place. (Besides raising good kids) What can I do to make difference?"

My doctor friend does not have to mull over this one.

I vote doctor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a former BigLaw lawyer, from a top ranked law school. My good friend is an ER doctor, from a middle-ranked school.

I am blown out with respect for her. She actually can make a real difference--a life and death difference, and does all the time.

I'm almost 50 and so are many of my friends, so a common theme is: "I am entering into the second half of my life. I want to leave the planet a better place. (Besides raising good kids) What can I do to make difference?"

My doctor friend does not have to mull over this one.

I vote doctor.

You mean she is great at consults? ER docs don't deal with life and death. They exist to turf patients.

[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?

These are only a basis for prestige for a presumptuous asshole who cares about ego and money.

In that case, an investment banker or hedge fund director beats both of them out by miles and miles.

Ignoring the D-bag variables like salary or guess what I do for a living statements; the average doctor has jumped through more hoops so to speak to enter their profession and more importantly provides a greater service to the community as a whole.

[Anonymous]

I'm not a lawyer but I go to a lot of conferences and functions and I always see Rodgin Cohen from Sullivan and Cromwell here in DC. I was wondering, is he a prestigious person in attorney circles? He has been in many books as a key decision maker during the crisis. I would say he is a lawyer with some prestige from the perspective of a non-lawyer. But I don't know what he does exactly, except he always seems to be able to find a seat at the table where the action is. If someone asked me, can you name a famous lawyer working today, that's probably what I would come up with. I don't consider ls professors or judges to be lawyers, because I think they are in a different profession. I can name more of those, Coffee, Mooney, Lessig, Posner, etc. I have read things these people have written, but not generally what practicing lawyers write.

[Anonymous]

Doctors, hands down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

These are only a basis for prestige for a presumptuous asshole who cares about ego and money.

In that case, an investment banker or hedge fund director beats both of them out by miles and miles.

Ignoring the D-bag variables like salary or guess what I do for a living statements; the average doctor has jumped through more hoops so to speak to enter their profession and more importantly provides a greater service to the community as a whole.

This is PP. Forgot to add if you do want to compare salaries, on average a medical doctor beats a lawyer.

[Anonymous]

Doctor easily. I'm having a hard time thinking of a profession that is more universally revered. Astronaut maybe?

[Anonymous]

This is the result of a poll: http://www.marketingcharts.com/topics/behavioral-marketing/most-prestigious-occupations-firefighter-scientist-top-list-10045/harris-interactive-prestige-occupations-august-2009jpg/

Doctors - 3rd on the list.

Lawyers - 13th out of 23.

Don't compare to what your peers would say. Randomly selected from all adults.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a former BigLaw lawyer, from a top ranked law school. My good friend is an ER doctor, from a middle-ranked school.

I am blown out with respect for her. She actually can make a real difference--a life and death difference, and does all the time.

I'm almost 50 and so are many of my friends, so a common theme is: "I am entering into the second half of my life. I want to leave the planet a better place. (Besides raising good kids) What can I do to make difference?"

My doctor friend does not have to mull over this one.

I vote doctor.

You mean she is great at consults? ER docs don't deal with life and death. They exist to turf patients.

PP here. I don't get your meaning. She's often dealing with life/death situations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Doctor easily. I'm having a hard time thinking of a profession that is more universally revered. Astronaut maybe?

The love triangle astronaut affair made me wonder about them as individuals.

[Anonymous]

Doctor without a question.

[Anonymous]

"Let's kill all the lawyers." --Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part II