why do people think doctors are so superior?

student4ever · Nov 7, 2005

in the last 6 months i decided not to go to med. school and to be a clinical nurse specialist in oncology instead. i also intend on getting my PhD so i can do research as well. SOOOOO when i told my friends/ family that i switched paths to nursing they all looked at me like "ooh??" like it's not as GOOD as being a doctor..like "oooh so you're JUST going to be a nurse" w/ their noses in the air. it makes me so MAD :angryfire ...it seems like some people look at nurses like they're inferior to doctors...that just gets me. sorry...had to vent :)

It's okay to vent! That mentality gets me burned up too... society has so overheroized (is that a word?) doctors into these super people that anything else in the medical field seems small potatoes to those who are not in the know. All we can really do is to spread the word, and really put it out there that nurses are at the core of patient care, and are such a huge part of the healthcare system. The more we represent ourselves as nurses (well, in my case, future nurse) and the complex role that nurses play in the healthcare system, the better informed the public will be about how wonderful and technical a field nursing really is. Just explain to these "nose in the air" people that you want to get advanced certification and degree work, but you want to focus on the nursing process, which is far different from the MD track. Explain your reasonings, and maybe they'll get the picture. If not, surely they'll trip and fall flat with their noses so high in the air! :rotfl:

Editorial Team / Admin · Nov 7, 2005

in the last 6 months i decided not to go to med. school and to be a clinical nurse specialist in oncology instead. i also intend on getting my PhD so i can do research as well. SOOOOO when i told my friends/ family that i switched paths to nursing they all looked at me like "ooh??" like it's not as GOOD as being a doctor..like "oooh so you're JUST going to be a nurse" w/ their noses in the air. it makes me so MAD :angryfire ...it seems like some people look at nurses like they're inferior to doctors...that just gets me. sorry...had to vent :)

Hello, MagicalThinking,:balloons:

I dont' know why our families and friends feel the need to put us down. I am an NP, double certification, with a very successful practice and I still get the occasional comment, "See, if you were a doctor, you could even be more successful".

I suppose it is years and years and years of something engrained in human nature. Physicians are the highest profession and if you cannot do that, you are inferior. Not!

GO FOR IT!!! Sounds like a plan to me. I think you have very high aspirations. And, as for your family and friends, just tell them you wanted a successful career that medical school could not provide.

Mirai Kangofu · Nov 7, 2005

I get that annoying line all the time. I found a really good article about thins on the nursing advocacy website:

"You could be a doctor!"
Well-meaning persons sometimes suggest that a nurse they find to be skilled or knowledgeable could or should be a physician, or kiddingly address such a nurse as if he were a physician. Although nurses appreciate compliments, many nurses view these usually innocent comments as unhelpful to the profession. Nurses work together with physicians to restore and maintain health. But nursing is an autonomous profession with its own theory, scholarship and clinical practice areas. Nurses are not junior physicians or physicians' assistants, and few nurses wish to become physicians. In fact, nursing has its own "doctors:" nurses with doctorates in nursing.
In many cases, these statements reflect a common stereotype that a health care worker who displays significant knowledge or technical skills must be a physician, since nurses do not have such qualities. When it becomes obvious that a particular nurse does have such qualities, it is not surprising that many conclude she must be exceptional, which does not conflict with their larger pre-existing ideas. The challenge is to help the public see that knowledgeable, skilled nurses are not the exception, but the rule. Breaking down this part of the nursing stereotype could also help persuade more bright, motivated people to enter the profession and relieve the current shortage.
Not all elements of the common nursing stereotype are negative. Many regard nurses as notably trustworthy, caring and patient-focused. However, we are still waiting to hear about a physician who displays these qualities being told: "You could be a nurse!" Of course, given the wide disparity in status between physicians and nurses, such a statement would be virtually impossible today. And we are not suggesting that it should be made; it could reflect negative stereotyping of physicians.

I'm glad that such a smart person such as yourself is entering the nursing field. I'm sorry that nursing still has the pink collar/waitressing stereotype. When people tell me that nursing is too easy for me, I snort and say, "Nursing, easy? Sometimes I WISH that my job was easy. Ask an RN what he/she does and THEN tell me that my work doesn't require brains." and leave it at that.

Another thing that ticks me off are people who think that being a doctor is easy. One guy once told me, "Be a doctor. It's easy 9-5 work, you can set up your own practice, and you can chase nurses around. you won't have to do all the crazy overtime or be bossed around by nurses" Uh... malpractice insurance, paperwork, on-call, residency, 8+ years of school... Then again, this guy also thinks that children born with birth defects should be euthanized, so I took his advice with a cylinder of Morton Iodized.

Chaya, ASN, RN · Nov 7, 2005

A. Money talks. Self perpetuating cycle-Docs make more, therefore are accorded more respect, so society perceives them as deserving of higher salaries...

B. Docs dress the part- they wear crisp white coats instead of smocks with cute animals or cartoons on them.

and C.- They just don't know any better!

Editorial Team / Admin · Nov 7, 2005

I get that annoying line all the time. I found a really good article about thins on the nursing advocacy website:
I'm glad that such a smart person such as yourself is entering the nursing field. I'm sorry that nursing still has the pink collar/waitressing stereotype. When people tell me that nursing is too easy for me, I snort and say, "Nursing, easy? Sometimes I WISH that my job was easy. Ask an RN what he/she does and THEN tell me that my work doesn't require brains." and leave it at that.
Another thing that ticks me off are people who think that being a doctor is easy. One guy once told me, "Be a doctor. It's easy 9-5 work, you can set up your own practice, and you can chase nurses around. you won't have to do all the crazy overtime or be bossed around by nurses" Uh... malpractice insurance, paperwork, on-call, residency, 8+ years of school... Then again, this guy also thinks that children born with birth defects should be euthanized, so I took his advice with a cylinder of Morton Iodized.

:rotfl: :rotfl:

skylock · Nov 7, 2005

I have fought this misconception for 20 years and my theory is doctor is a male profession and nurse is a female profession (or seen as so).

Also, women are harder on other women than men are on men. Just a fact of life.

Let a "nurse" make a small mistake and the other nurses are on her throat. You can see it right here on this board. But let a "doctor" make a huge mistake and it is like, tough break man.

Mirai Kangofu · Nov 7, 2005

Another reason why doctors are held in higher regard is the fact that everybody knows what education is required of a doctor: 8+ years of school, the purgatory better known as residency, and a hectic, prestegious job. We nurses have our intense clinicals and a science-heavy curriculum but people don't know what nursing school consists of. Plus, there's the C word: College Degree. Everybody knows that all doctors graduate from universities, but nursing has only fairly recently become a college degree and is still lumped in with vocations (I'm not bashing on vocations, there are some darn good blue collar jobs out there, LVNs are apt nurses too, and nursing wasn't any less valid when it was a 3-year vocational degree). People think that all the brains and decisions lie in the doctor, and assume that nursing is glorified waitressing and that all we have to do is be able to understand and act on the doctors' orders.

MagicalThinking · Nov 7, 2005

I LOVE all of your responses. awesome. i always laugh to myself when i tell someone i'm going into Nursing and add CNS and PhD...the look on their faces is utter confusion.:chuckle which is kinda bad that people aren't aware of the many amazing roles that nurses play in healthcare. i have had a few people say "why not be a doctor?" and after i tell them why they're like "wow i had no idea nurses could do that". i am not implying for one second that a BSN is better than a LPN or a PhD is better than a NP w/ a MSN it just depends on what you want to do and what areas you're interested in and they are all difficult and mentally challenging careers...i think people should be aware of that. i think tv shows like ER and the like sort of perpetuate the stereotypes. every episode all you see are the doctors and the nurses just getting told what to do. then there's House, Grey's Anatomy, etc. i think there should be a show just about nurses. now that would educate the public and i bet it would be just as dramatic and interesting as the other shows.:)

sunnyjohn · Nov 7, 2005

Why do people think doctors are superior?

Sociological conditioning.

rvazqu6 · Nov 7, 2005

People think that being a physician is more prestigious for the same reason that people look down on those without college degrees. Individuals with more years of schooling are perceived by society as being more intelligent, more driven, having more responsibility, more knowledge, and more skills.

I think that this view extends to everyone regardless of their field. Even among physicians, primary practitioners are seen as being the bottom of the totem pole by the specialists. Similarly, some of my friends who work in factories don't like going to parties filled with attorneys - they feel like they're being looked down upon. It may not be right, but our society places a great deal of value on "what we do" rather than "who we are."

hipab4hands · Nov 8, 2005

If you like to read, there are several books out that talk about the evolution of medical schools and training. Several writers point out the in the "early days" that doc's were the equivalent of a religious leader, the hospital was the doctor's "church" and that the doc's were treated accordingly.

Unfortunately that "Medical Diety" attitude still exists and is encouranged by hosptial administrators.