Lawyers v. Doctors

Just in case anyone was still wondering if I was a nerd or not, I'll just mention that last week I was watching a panel regarding medical malpractice on CSPAN. Mind you, I'm not a medical professional, involved in the insurance industry, or a lawyer. Just a nerd.

Anyway, the speakers on this panel were mostly law professors, and some of those asking questions were doctors. Once it again it struck me how similar those two professions are, and just how much distrust exists between them. (The best part of this conference was when one of the participants pointed out this series of articles in the journal Medical Economics.) Both doctors and lawyers:

1. Require advanced training in a rather technical field. This training serves as a gatekeeper to the profession.
2. Use jargon that defines who is "one of us" and who is "one of them."
3. Often serve people who are incredibly vulnerable. This is what motivates most people to get involved in their profession in the first place, the chance to "help those in need." Temptations also come from having the power over the vulnerable; arrogance being one of the most prominent.
4. Earn good money (According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2003, the median salary for family and general practitioners was $137,670 and for lawyers it was $92,730) and have the potential to be very lucrative.
5. Each like to judge the other based on the worst examples. (Doctors who say lawyers are all ambulance chasers looking for a huge payout and lawyers who say doctors just want to avoid responsibility for malpractice)
6. Like most professions, they seem reluctant to discipline thier own. Lawyers suggestions for dealing with the malpractice crisis often involves doctors