Do you think Doctors get too much credit in Society?

[Dantemustdie]

I was having a debate with my father, he's very old fashioned and thinks that being a doctor is the be all and end all of the universe, and that they basically know everything. I was taking the stance that the Scientists don't get enough credit, and they they do most the work behind the scenes, like discovering new ways to make drugs, pioneering medicine with creating new vaccinations and curing diseases and pushing the boundaries of technology and the universe as we know it. To him it doesn't matter if a person is a professor of chemistry, the word of a doctor is more important.

[musicbrain5]

Both my parents are doctors. Neither of them are family doctors - they each trained in a specialty and a sub-specialty (Mom in radiology and infectious diseases and Dad in surgery and internal medicine). They are very highly educated people, but they don't know everything, of course!

I have a whole lot of respect for doctors, nurses, paramedics, and scientists alike and neither group gets nearly enough credit for everything they do. They all work together to provide patients with leading edge advances in medicine so they can get the best possible care. I think people like your father take doctors' advice more seriously because they are the direct link between the patient (which would be him, for example) and the world of science that has all the answers to his questions.

I think certain kinds of doctors can get too much credit - generally the ones who are very high up on the career ladder - heads of hospitals, deans of medicine at universities, etc. You know, the ones who oversee everything and make enough money to drive a Ferrari. It's the people who work directly with patients in hospitals who don't get enough credit, and more specifically, all the ER staff. My parents are working in the ER right now, and it's a long shift and you're on call between every shift. But I will say that it's the nurses and paramedics who don't get the accolades they should - they do ALL the grunt work - before the patient even gets to see a doctor, they were taken care of in the ambulance and then by a nurse in admittance.

[Dovahbear]

Yes. Doctors get too much credit. Where I live, if you're a doctor you are considered to be rich (which is a common fallacy because not all of them are rich) and you are treated royally. It's unfair because the scientists are not given enough credit for actually introducing the drugs that save people's lives. But I guess being a doctor has it's cons too. Seeing that some patients cannot be saved must be really upsetting. The are important to the society. But credit should go to others too.

[xSofiax]

No real opinion on this, I just want to add that Nurses do not get anywhere near the pay/credit they deserve for the job they do.

[Dantemustdie]

agreed, doctors seem to just steal the credit lol

[Surferfer]

doctors aren't "stealing" credit, they do earn it

[Anonymous]

Yes they do!

I have seen too many doctors think they know everything and get all butt-hurt when their patients know something they don't. I've had doctors try to deny responsibility for their actions and downplay the severity of their patient's conditions (eg: write on the charts that their joint muscles "tickle" instead of "hurt in agony"). the doctors I encounter seem to think prescription drugs are the answers to everyone's problems when I know in some cases they've made me worse. Getting off anti depressants was one of the best decisions I ever made even though my doctors advise against it and we're not happy when I found out I did. I even had a psychiatrist make all my personal information and secrets I told him accessible to anyone from insurance companies to courtrooms!

My father is a doctor and most of my relatives are doctors or are in the medical field. I understand it is a demanding career that requires lots of knowledge and dedication. But it deserves about as much merit as any other career in society such as teachers, engineers, writers and any other contributor to society. They are not better people and society needs to stop praising them so much

[Surferfer]

While scientists are paving new ways in technology and doctors and surgeons are performing miracles and healing people, modern society would not function without professions like the garbage man, the builder, the plumber etc. imagine the outbreak of disease if there was just rubbish all over your street or the insecurities of your being afraid because your house is about to fall down because you built it.

My point is everyone most professions deserve credit and without one of these professions the world would not be as you know it is today

[palek]

I don't know, but I have to give a great deal of credit my Doctor. Every time I visit, he examines me and always determines that my wallet should be removed. Clever fellow!

[Love2Ball]

No, my Dad is surgeon and he's saving people's lives everyday. If anything they are under credited. I can't tell you how many times people come up to me to tell my dad that he's an amazing surgeon and could not thank him enough.

[Love2Ball]

And its a TON of work to get a MD.

If you make one mistake you could paralyze a person and get sued for all your money and degree. Just inagine cutting a living human and making the slightest mistake.

[Dantemustdie]

I should have specified it in the Q, I was referring to general practitioners, as in just a family doc. Surgeons I do not think fall into the too much credit factor, they do directly save lives and I should have specified by what I meant in the Q lol

[Love2Ball]

Then yea but practitioners really don't make that much money compared to other doctors... They still deserve good pay for the hell they went through to get a medical degree though.

Nurses I think are paid accurately because there are such a large amount of them now many will accept lower pay

[musicbrain5]

Is he a general surgeon? My dad is basically a general surgeon, working in the ER right now, but his actual specialty was along the lines of reconstructive and plastic surgery. I think he got sick of giving people unnecessary nose jobs, fake boobs, and facelifts, LOL! He is good at what he does now though, and will often receive nice cards, flowers, gift cards, etc from former patients who thank him.

[Love2Ball]

He does general and plastic and specializes in hand and face reconstruction

[musicbrain5]

Cool! Yeah my dad was doing that for a few years too.

[Anonymous]

I just want to point something out.. The people creating and researching the new drugs, vaccines, and cures.. are actually doctors. They just specialize in a different field rather than surgeons, GP's, etc.

[musicbrain5]

Yeah, that's true actually! I know my parents were practically balls deep in science courses while in med school... they could have each easily graduated with a degree in some kind of science. Mostly biology.

[Anonymous]

Doctors deserve it. They do a great job. I have lots of respect for them.