Why are a lot of doctors arrogant?

[StriveP]

I noticed a lot of medical doctors (including profs) i've come across are extremely arrogant. I mean, sure they save lives but it doesn't mean they are superior to anyone. When it comes to money, doctors are not even considered "rich" unless you're at the top of your speciality netting $1mill. Even then that doesn't mean you are superior to anyone, it just means you're a jerk. So why are so many doctors so arrogant?!!

[#YOLO]

Because you go to UofT.

[Silverwolf1277]

I noticed a lot of medical doctors (including profs) i've come across are extremely arrogant. I mean, sure they save lives but it doesn't mean they are superior to anyone. When it comes to money, doctors are not even considered "rich" unless you're at the top of your speciality netting $1mill. Even then that doesn't mean you are superior to anyone, it just means you're a jerk. So why are so many doctors so arrogant?!!

 

this is such a gross generalization I don't even think it deserves responses.

[StriveP]

this is such a gross generalization I don't even think it deserves responses.

 

If you read closely, I said "the doctors I came across". I never said all doctors are like this, just the ones that I've met.

[goodyearkl]

If you read closely, I said "the doctors I came across". I never said all doctors are like this, just the ones that I've met.

 

But you haven't given any examples to support this.

[Guest cw2lu]

I met this one dentist (orthodontist) when I was planning to get braces who was a condescending S.O.B. Me and my parents walked out of there in less than 5 minutes of conversation with him. 5 grand out the door because of that personality.

[StriveP]

But you haven't given any examples to support this.

 

For example, I was a friends party who graduated from UofT med. So me and my other friend who is a very successful restaurateur came across 2 of his UofT med friends. When they asked us what we do, they merely smirked and gave us little thought. You could tell they thought nothing of us. There were even a few times they started boasting their accomplishments that night to impress my friends gf and steal her away from him. But I honestly don't want to go into detail... I honestly didn't think I needed to give an example since i've seen other doctors who also think of professionals outside medicine to be mediocre.

[deadlybutterfly]

there are douchebags everywhere and there are very great people everywhere. its nothing new, but it still does piss me off too. with that said, i would say its because they are douchebags and not because they are doctors that they act that way. it shouldnt be too many people anyways.

[mononoke]

I've also met a lot of doctors who are really kind and down-to-earth, they're the ones who inspired me to become a doctor myself. I think it's just a few bad apples that are memorable. I also think it might be because becoming a doctor is a great accomplishment and everybody tells them so...so it's like getting an ego-booster constantly.

[Guest cw2lu]

For example, I was a friends party who graduated from UofT med. So me and my other friend who is a very successful restaurateur came across 2 of his UofT med friends. When they asked us what we do, they merely smirked and gave us little thought. You could tell they thought nothing of us. There were even a few times they started boasting their accomplishments that night to impress my friends gf and steal her away from him. But I honestly don't want to go into detail... I honestly didn't think I needed to give an example since i've seen other doctors who also think of professionals outside medicine to be mediocre.

 

"I'll buy you a nice things..... after I pay off my student loans"

 

Yep, complete d-bag. But I'm sure there are more kind med students than arrogant ones. A lot of people on this forum seems to be pretty nice.

[StriveP]

"I'll buy you a nice things..... after I pay off my student loans"

 

Yep, complete d-bag. But I'm sure there are more kind med students than arrogant ones. A lot of people on this forum seems to be pretty nice.

 

I think you're definitely right, it's just these 2 douchbags really ticked me off. Nearly every doctor I came across before these 2 were very kind except 1 or 2 incidents. Regardless, its always a few that ruin it for the others.

[A-Stark]

Are you sure you're not thinking of this guy?

[Mighty Molar]

I noticed a lot of medical doctors (including profs) i've come across are extremely arrogant. I mean, sure they save lives but it doesn't mean they are superior to anyone. When it comes to money, doctors are not even considered "rich" unless you're at the top of your speciality netting $1mill. Even then that doesn't mean you are superior to anyone, it just means you're a jerk. So why are so many doctors so arrogant?!!

 

Doctors and dentists have never made it to the Forbes' 500 richest people list Doc netting $1mil is like pennies compared to, let say, Facebook's CEO ($ 26 Bil net-worth)

 

Personally, I think we earn just enough for a comfortable life, but absolutely not rich.

[distressedpremed]

For example, I was a friends party who graduated from UofT med. So me and my other friend who is a very successful restaurateur came across 2 of his UofT med friends. When they asked us what we do, they merely smirked and gave us little thought. You could tell they thought nothing of us. There were even a few times they started boasting their accomplishments that night to impress my friends gf and steal her away from him. But I honestly don't want to go into detail... I honestly didn't think I needed to give an example since i've seen other doctors who also think of professionals outside medicine to be mediocre.

 

I am definitely not a representative of my classmates's actions nor of any other medical student at U of T, but I'm sorry that you felt this way. I'm sure their actions are individually driven and if you get to know a lot of us, we wouldn't act like that inside or outside our role as medical students. I'm sure if you went to any other med class of another med school you could also find some of that behaviour, which is in a minority.

 

Maybe in some context - I know right now we're stressed with exams and evaluations and generally, I know I'm personally burnt out. So maybe their actions weren't driven by a need to show off, but perhaps a greater desire to give some sort of meaning in our somewhat mundane lives manifested in a outwardly douchey gesture at a party you coincidentally at.

 

Or maybe they've always been like that. Who knows.

[Renoir]

there are douchebags everywhere and there are very great people everywhere.

 

This 1000x. You are only noticing arrogant doctors because they are on your radar. I know of arrogant people in nearly every field that self aggrandize to an intolerable degree. I can think of:

 

Chefs/cooks

Industrial tradespeople

Profs

Baristas

Nurses

Engineers

 

As a few recent examples just off the top of my head where I have encountered both very humble awesome people but also tremendously arrogant people.

[Renoir]

Reminds me of this Mitchell and Webb clip

 

"That's hardly BRAIN SURGERY isn't it?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNnzi4NcKKY

[Mike.B.]

For example, I was a friends party who graduated from UofT med. So me and my other friend who is a very successful restaurateur came across 2 of his UofT med friends. When they asked us what we do, they merely smirked and gave us little thought. You could tell they thought nothing of us. There were even a few times they started boasting their accomplishments that night to impress my friends gf and steal her away from him. But I honestly don't want to go into detail... I honestly didn't think I needed to give an example since i've seen other doctors who also think of professionals outside medicine to be mediocre.

 

Some people go into medicine because they are trying to find a way to show their lives are 'better' than other peoples', others go into medicine looking for ways to better the lives other people.

 

Although I'm sure most people are a mix of those two classes, those who identify most strongly with former class are usually the ones you see and hear because they're most vocal about their opinions and views. They need others to fuel their vanity and will go to great lengths to get that satisfaction.

 

For the rest of the bunch, they get their satisfaction by doing a good job. Some of the best doctors I have met are the most humble. Unless you asked or knew beforehand, I doubt you would even know they're physicians outside the hospital and as a 'pre-med' those are my role models.

[Mike.B.]

Doctors and dentists have never made it to the Forbes' 500 richest people list Doc netting $1mil is like pennies compared to, let say, Facebook's CEO ($ 26 Bil net-worth)

 

Personally, I think we earn just enough for a comfortable life, but absolutely not rich.

 

A doctors salary is quite small in reality, especially considering the schooling involved. If I told people that I wanted to go to medical school because medicine pays well, they would laugh at me.

[NeuroPreMed]

I think you're definitely right, it's just these 2 douchbags really ticked me off. Nearly every doctor I came across before these 2 were very kind except 1 or 2 incidents. Regardless, its always a few that ruin it for the others.

 

I rarely go to doctors, but the few I have gone to I am more than willing to add to the conversation.

 

Broke my arm when I was younger. My orthopod was beyond friendly.

 

The few times I've visited the medicenter every doctor didn't care about much of anything. Come in "help you" get out.

 

The physician at my school who I've seen a couple days once again was beyond nice. He has been at it for 12 years and still loves it.

 

It all depends who you meet. The problem with doctors is you don't see them everyday so a bad one sticks out.

[Cerebrate]

But you haven't given any examples to support this.

 

If he gave examples of arrogant doctors, we'd gather outside their clinics with our pitchforks ready. I'm kidding, I know what you meant.

 

OP tell us what the doctors exactly said, or has done, which left you such an impression?

[carazadie]

Perceptions can be misleading. A doctor who is brisk, no-nonsense and to-the-point might be perceived as arrogant, when in actuality they are just overworked and overstressed. A lot of the general public has no idea what goes on behind the scenes to keep the clinic/hospital running smoothly. All they know is that the doctor didn't seem very nice. Medicine has a cultural history of paternalism, so it's easy for people to believe that we are simply arrogant. Part of the art of medicine is to make each patient feel valued...but that's easier said than done when you're busting your butt just to get everyone through the door. I would love to spend a few extra minutes bonding with each patient, but even at my level as a clerk, the time pressures simply don't allow that.

 

But of course there are some docs who are simply arrogant.

[thalie]

Clearly doctors (and patients) suffer for the inadequacies of the system.

 

But I have observed through friends, and personally had the experience that even friendly, communicative doctors can be overly confident in lab tests and radiology findings. Don't quote me on this, but validity can be around 0.55-80 for certain kinds of ultrasound investigations of some MSK issues, especially soft tissue problems. So much depends on technician training and experience, and there's lots of room for technical error. Interrater reliability of radiologist's interpretation of scans is sometimes shockingly variable, as well. Here, subjective report is important and too often dismissed in favour of 'objective' tests. I mean, people know their bodies, or at least they can feel when something's wrong. This also matters in other areas in which the evidence base is evolving, like women's health, rheumatology, endocrinology, and pain management.

 

This isn't so much about personal arrogance, though.

 

(Although I will say that anyone who even thinks of approaching medicine at all, or who hopes to reach the peak of whatever other profession, has to have a baseline level of confidence and belief in their ability to achieve their goals. That might come across as arrogance to some.)