Prestige of Lawyer vs Physician

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[Post New]08/08/2014 21:10
quote
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?


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).


This.

And (rightly or wrongly) medicine is perceived to be a more altruistic profession, which ups the prestige level.
[Post New]08/08/2014 21:11
quote
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
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?


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).


This.

And (rightly or wrongly) medicine is perceived to be a more altruistic profession, which ups the prestige level.


So many doctors with terrible bedside manner are in it for the money.
[Post New]08/08/2014 21:13
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Anonymous
Doctors, hands down. They are much smarter. Any idiot can be an attorney.
[Post New]08/08/2014 21:14
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Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Doctors, hands down. They are much smarter. Any idiot can be an attorney.


Similar to a used car salesman. They can be smart in a manipulative way.
[Post New]08/08/2014 21:16
quote
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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?


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).


This.

And (rightly or wrongly) medicine is perceived to be a more altruistic profession, which ups the prestige level.


So many doctors with terrible bedside manner are in it for the money.


I actually haven't seen much of this from the many doctors I know. Many do have terrible bedside manners, but the vast majority seem to be very interested in their specialty. They might be arrogant pricks, but it usually isn't over money; it is usually out of a sense of being able to fix things that others cannot or their hyper-focus on their field. I know far more people who went to law school in the hopes of making a lot of money. For med school, most seemed genuinely interested in medicine/science (which may or may not translate to being a doctor who is good with patients).

Also, almost anyone can go to law school. It takes almost not planning/training. Not so for med school.
[Post New]08/08/2014 21:16
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Anonymous
Doctors, definitely. I've worked with too many really dumb lawyers to think otherwise.
[Post New]08/08/2014 21:21
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Anonymous
As a lawyer I say that doctors are more prestigious. However there is an upper echelon of every profession. Cardiac vascular and neurosurgeons plus top researchers in many areas of disease are far more prestigious than any big law partner. Those who regularly argue before the Supreme Court though reach that level for prestige.
[Post New]08/08/2014 21:23
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Anonymous
Surgeon General is pretty prestigious.
[Post New]08/08/2014 21:25
quote
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:As a lawyer I say that doctors are more prestigious. However there is an upper echelon of every profession. Cardiac vascular and neurosurgeons plus top researchers in many areas of disease are far more prestigious than any big law partner. Those who regularly argue before the Supreme Court though reach that level for prestige.


Do they have the problem of easily being laid off because it is such a specialized area and if the firm isn't able to find clients to represent, for free, they lay off these lawyers?
[Post New]08/08/2014 21:25
quote
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Surgeon General is pretty prestigious.


Does he have any real authority like the Supreme Court? Or does he just make recommendations?
[Post New]08/08/2014 21:27
quote
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?

You're a total moron.
[Post New]08/08/2014 21:27
quote
Anonymous
If we are talking strictly professions, generalizing lawyers vs doctors, than doctors of course. Let's see, doctors save lives for a living. They are helping to heal the sick. Lawyers litigate for a living.

If you want to compare Big Law to doctors than you would compare Big Law to Heart surgeons and Brain surgeons, not to a family practice doctor. There are plenty of lawyers that do absolutely nothing with their JD or just notarize documents for a living.

Not every doctor is perfect, not every doctor has bedside manner, but they are in the profession because they have a passion for helping people. Honestly, there is no way to get through the grueling aspects of med school and residency/fellowship if you didn't have that passion.

I do have respect for lawyers, but it's more of a respect based on what exactly their career path is. If they're Big Law litigating for some of the shady large corporations, my respect for them is not that high. Whereas, I would still respect the profession of a pediatrician or a family practice doctor. It's not the money that they earn that garners respect.








[Post New]08/08/2014 21:31
quote
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:

Not every doctor is perfect, not every doctor has bedside manner, but they are in the profession because they have a passion for helping people. Honestly, there is no way to get through the grueling aspects of med school and residency/fellowship if you didn't have that passion.




I think doctors are definitely more prestigious. However, I don't agree that they all have a passion for helping people. Many of the very high level docs I know got in to it because of their interest in science, not to help people. And they had no problem getting through med school or a residency program. It was just part of the necessary training for their chosen profession in science.
[Post New]08/08/2014 21:31
quote
Anonymous
What a bizarre thread, OP. Who have you been talking to that honestly thinks being a Biglaw lawyer is more prestigious than being a radiologist, pediatrician, endocrinologist, etc.? Any doctor is more prestigious than a lawyer, whatever their salary. (I'm a lawyer and my brother and SIL are doctors.)
[Post New]08/08/2014 21:32
quote
FruminousBandersnatch
Member Offline
Most of your points relate to economics and your inaccurate perception of status symbols like wearing suits and getting a car service.


JD is more intellectual than MD?


Dear god, let's hope not. I'm a lawyer and I know some dumb lawyers and some who are very smart but severely lacking in common sense. Most lawyers do work that doesn't involve things that can kill someone. Someone who wants to become a doctor has to do well in science courses, not poli sci, and then has to go to Med School, where they study science and do it for longer than law students do.

JD has much higher salary potential


So does investment banking. Does that make I-banking the most prestigious in your eyes?

JD is much more versatile - the prestige speaks for itself in many industries


So your evidence that a JD is more prestigious is that its prestige speaks for itself? Have you looked up the definition of tautology lately? Why would you say a JD is more versatile?

JD ceiling is higher - Supreme Court justices have no medical counterpart near as prestigious


Technically you don't have to be a lawyer to be a Supreme Court justice. But that's beside the point. As another poster pointed out, being a lawyer is not the same as being a judge.

The prestige of being a Supreme Court justice does not accrue to the average lawyer (or even the vase majority of above-average lawyers).

Leaving aside the judges vs. lawyers distinction, the "logic" behind this one is really flawed. Using this logic you would argue that because a jr. high school football coach could conceivably one-day make it to coaching an NFL team, then the "prestige" of being an NFL coach accrues to the jr. high school coach. That just makes no sense.

JDs in big law get car service, catered lunches, and suits - MDs have cabs/trains, cafeteria, and scrubs


Not all JDs in big law get car service. Car service is provided for some in NYC because they are working late and it's not safe for them to take the subway/train. It's possible that car service might be provided for some in DC for the same reason, but it's not a daily thing. JDs drive/bike/cab/train the same way MDs do.

When a firm brings in a catered lunch it's for some kind of event or because there's some reason why it's more cost effective to keep people in the building working over lunch rather than having them go out. In some firms the same logic applies to dinner, or in some cases dinner for a team gets billed to a client. Pharmaceutical reps bring catered lunches to doctors offices, too.

Have you noticed that most firms are business casual and prefer it that way? If I could wear scrubs to work I'd do it in a heartbeat.

JDs are sole in their ability to practice law - MDs have DO and foreign competition


Lawyers are competing with do-it-yourself legal offerings like LegalZoom.

JDs charge by hour - MDs have to deal with government dictated reimbursements


If you ask any lawyer what she hates most about practicing law, billing time will be close to the top of the list.

According to your argument here, if a painter can charge whatever he wants per hour, then that's more "prestigious" than being a doctor.

Many doctors do not have to deal with gov't (or insurance company) dictated reimbursements, but even if they do, how does that impact their "prestige"?




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