Why is there such a "God complex" among doctors?

Donna Wood52 said:It’s not that they lack the ability—far from it—but I get this distinct impression that they’re just incredibly cold-blooded.

Personally, I feel a bit of regret that I never went to medical school. Back when I was at that age where you have to make those life-defining career choices, my mindset was basically "anything but medicine."
That said, life experience and a lot of reading have actually taught me quite a bit about the field,
so if I were to weigh in...
If I had been a doctor, I would have aimed to be
the kind of physician backed by solid knowledge, hands-on experience, and the genuine trust of patients who knew I’d do everything to help them without being overbearing...
I would never hide behind the so-called "white coat" because...
it's just a piece of clothing,
and I certainly wouldn't use it as a mask
to act like I belong to some higher social class, which seems to be how things work nowadays.

Some doctors really baffle me, and honestly, I tend to give them a pretty blunt reality check...
like, did you actually know what you were signing up for in school?
Because if you were just chasing the money and the status...
then you picked the wrong profession.
And then there are us "crazy" people who aren't afraid to call them out on their behavior.
But what bothers me most is why the medical establishment doesn't distance itself from the bad actors. It’s similar to how some judges operate—there's this internal friction and resentment among themselves. If you ever happen to be a patient on one of those wards, you can practically feel the tension. The atmosphere is just toxic, and hearing that kind of bitterness during morning rounds while you're lying in a hospital bed is truly nauseating. They spend half their time tearing each other down.
It makes you wonder... are these professionals actually there to serve the patients, or are they just existing for their own sake?

Donna Wood52 said:

I didn't even think about Donna Wood52—much less anything involving a fetish. Honestly.

Look, I’m already spoken for—and before you start, my guy isn't some med student or a doctor. Honestly? I couldn't care less about those fancy titles everyone seems to be collecting like trading cards these days. I value people based on their character and how kind they actually are—which, let's face it, is a pretty rare commodity lately—rather than what's printed on a diploma. 😉

I once met a doctor who was actually decent—truly competent—so I foolishly assumed they were all cut from the same cloth. Just to clear the air here: I don’t have some weird doctor fetish, regardless of what anyone might want to think. At least, I don't fall into that category of pathological fetishists.

To get back to the point—as one particularly sharp individual once pointed out—medical students are basically conditioned from day one to believe they’re some kind of superior species. It’s baked right into the curriculum. You see it all the time with certain doctors who are way too preoccupied with their own status; they won't even look at a patient if they don't think there's a profit in it. If you're just a kid with a brain tumor and no insurance, or some poor soul who can't afford the premium tier, they’ll look the other way. And don't even get me started on the lack of professional courtesy—you have plenty of them who are completely uncollegial, refusing to lend a hand to a peer during a test or a rotation just because they can. It's pathetic, really.

Look, at the end of the day—and I really mean this—every single profession has its fair share of problematic individuals. I wasn't trying to paint everyone with the same brush or make some sweeping generalization here.

I know this one GP—a general practitioner I occasionally drop in on when I need a prescription or something similar. He’s a perfectly decent guy—calm, kind, actually pretty funny once you get him talking. He splits his time between two very different worlds. One is this remote clinic way out in the middle of nowhere—think rural Montana or some isolated patch of the Ozarks—where he treats elderly patients and folks with disabilities. Honestly, it seems like a massive sacrifice given how desolate that area is. His other practice, though, is right here in the heart of the city.

We could probably justify opening up an entirely new thread here—something along the lines of, "Why is there always this constant need to degrade cleaning crews?" ☕ Well, I suppose that’s just part of the job—nothing more, nothing less.
They need to be paid a little something too—just enough to cover their own damn messes, trash, and whatever other nonsense they leave behind. Beyond that, they’re still a family, aren't they? I mean, who else are they supposed to eat with?
And I won’t even get started on how most people look down their noses at them—it’s pathetic, really. You see these sanitation workers out there, and you realize some of them actually have college degrees just to spend their days cleaning up after kids in public schools. It’s a strange reality, isn't it?

And where exactly are you getting the idea that doctors have low salaries nowadays? What an absolute load of nonsense!

Helloooo? 😲 You don't need six years of university and a year of experience to be a janitor or a garbage collector.

Don't you think spending seven years in school for $1333 isn't exactly a small investment? 😕
And that's not even counting those grueling ER shifts and overtime hours people pull just to scrape together a few extra bucks. 🙄

Whereabout said:I didn't even think about Donna Wood52. And I certainly wasn't thinking about some fetish. Period.

Look, I don't have some medical fetish—I just have a boyfriend who loves me and is a good man, even if he isn't a doctor.
I don't judge people based on those fancy titles everyone seems to collect these days; I judge them by their character. 😉

And frankly, I can't stand narcissists. Zeuxl is full of himself—no offense intended, really.
He seems to think being a doctor makes him irresistible to every woman out there. I’m just being honest, which is why I titled this thread the way I did.
It’s pretty obvious that most doctors are just incredibly full of themselves.

Donna Wood52 said:

I didn't even think about Donna Wood52—much less anything involving a fetish. Honestly.

Look, I’m already spoken for—and before you start, my guy isn't some med student or a doctor. Honestly? I couldn't care less about those fancy titles everyone seems to be collecting like trading cards these days. I value people based on their character and how kind they actually are—which, let's face it, is a pretty rare commodity lately—rather than what's printed on a diploma. 😉

I once met a doctor who was actually decent—truly competent—so I foolishly assumed they were all cut from the same cloth. Just to clear the air here: I don’t have some weird doctor fetish, regardless of what anyone might want to think. At least, I don't fall into that category of pathological fetishists.

To get back to the point—as one particularly sharp individual once pointed out—medical students are basically conditioned from day one to believe they’re some kind of superior species. It’s baked right into the curriculum. You see it all the time with certain doctors who are way too preoccupied with their own status; they won't even look at a patient if they don't think there's a profit in it. If you're just a kid with a brain tumor and no insurance, or some poor soul who can't afford the premium tier, they’ll look the other way. And don't even get me started on the lack of professional courtesy—you have plenty of them who are completely uncollegial, refusing to lend a hand to a peer during a test or a rotation just because they can. It's pathetic, really.

Look, at the end of the day—and I really mean this—every single profession has its fair share of problematic individuals. I wasn't trying to paint everyone with the same brush or make some sweeping generalization here.

I know this one GP—a general practitioner I occasionally drop in on when I need a prescription or something similar. He’s a perfectly decent guy—calm, kind, actually pretty funny once you get him talking. He splits his time between two very different worlds. One is this remote clinic way out in the middle of nowhere—think rural Montana or some isolated patch of the Ozarks—where he treats elderly patients and folks with disabilities. Honestly, it seems like a massive sacrifice given how desolate that area is. His other practice, though, is right here in the heart of the city.

We could probably justify opening up an entirely new thread here—something along the lines of, "Why is there always this constant need to degrade cleaning crews?" ☕ Well, I suppose that’s just part of the job—nothing more, nothing less.
They need to be paid a little something too—just enough to cover their own damn messes, trash, and whatever other nonsense they leave behind. Beyond that, they’re still a family, aren't they? I mean, who else are they supposed to eat with?
And I won’t even get started on how most people look down their noses at them—it’s pathetic, really. You see these sanitation workers out there, and you realize some of them actually have college degrees just to spend their days cleaning up after kids in public schools. It’s a strange reality, isn't it?

And where exactly are you getting the idea that doctors have low salaries nowadays? What an absolute load of nonsense!

It isn't nonsense at all. Seriously, do some digging into what a first-year resident actually makes... it's honestly pretty shocking.
If you were personally footing the entire bill for a medical student's tuition and living expenses, then I might have a question for you...
Sure, there are people working cleaning jobs who make a decent living...
But that doesn't mean a brand-new doctor should be walking away with the exact same paycheck as them.
I'll say it again:
When you're ready to bankroll your own child's education—whether they want to be a surgeon or an engineer—then let me know...

hiddenridge12 said:It’s not stupid—go ahead and look up what entry-level doctors actually make... it’s terrifying...
If you were somehow footing the entire bill for a medical student out of your own pocket—then maybe I'd care about your opinion...
Let there be janitors who can live a decent life...
And that doesn't mean some fresh-out-of-med-school doctor should be pulling the exact same salary as her...
I'll say it again:
When you start investing heavily in your own kid—to turn them into a future surgeon or an engineer—give me a shout...

Now it's going to look like they're making way too much$333. 🤣
Fine then. 🙂

I know a few doctors personally, and they're pulling in $150k. 👍

Donna Wood52 said:Now it's going to look like they're making way too much$333. 🤣
Fine then. 🙂

I know a few doctors personally, and they're pulling in $150k. 👍

Are we talking about the new grads here?

Because I just heard about this department head at some local office making maybe $70,000 a year

And you’re telling me that’s totally fine? To me, it sounds completely backwards.

Think about it: the doctors are pulling overnight shifts and grinding through emergencies, while the director cruises in from 9 to 5 and basically spends half the day bored because they have nothing to do.

hiddenridge12 said:Are those doctors actually working hard?

Meanwhile, some department head at an office is pulling in $7,000 a month

And you think that’s just fine... I certainly don't.

Keep in mind—while the doctors are stuck pulling overnight shifts, this administrator is sitting pretty, working a standard 7 to 3 schedule... and apparently, they have plenty of free time on their hands too.

Well, I assume that office director finished college too, not just medical school—since they're the ones making the big decisions.

Nobody who just walked off a campus with a degree is getting a massive salary. Why on earth should we expect a medical student to have anything different right now?
That's my point entirely—that's why this thread exists in the first place.🤷 ☕

Donna Wood52 said:Well, I assume that office director finished college too, not just medical school—since they're the ones making the big decisions.

Nobody who just walked off a campus with a degree is getting a massive salary. Why on earth should we expect a medical student to have anything different right now?
That's my point entirely—that's why this thread exists in the first place.🤷 ☕

The person I was talking about finished their degree in four years... and let's just say they breezed through it—I won't name the specific university—but their decision-making process? Ha! It honestly makes me laugh. You know,
completing med school... that doesn't happen by "breezing through it." Maybe for you, it would be that easy...
But let me tell you this:
next time you're footing the bill for a future physician, ask them if they're actually satisfied with their salary... especially after, in an ideal world, spending six grueling years in medical school... not some quick business degree or a political science program...

hiddenridge12 said:the guy in my story breezed through his degree in four years—pure laziness, really, though I won't name the university—his decision-making process... ha ha... I have to laugh, you know,
but now—finishing medical school... that doesn't happen by just coasting. maybe it would work that way for you...

Look, I get that med school is brutal, but they can't exactly expect to walk out the door with a $150,000 salary on day one. 🤷 but hey, they always seem pretty comfortable.

And back in the day, a law degree used to take four years; now it’s five. Just saying. Not that I'm calling it easy—God, no—it's just incredibly tedious. 👎

hiddenridge12 said:when you're the one footing the bill for a future doctor, go ahead and ask them if they're actually happy with their paycheck... after, in an ideal world, six years of studying medicine...not communications, not political science...

and certainly not law school. 👍

Donna Wood52 said:Now it's going to look like they're making way too much$333. 🤣
Fine then. 🙂

I know a few doctors personally, and they're pulling in $150k. 👍

Are we talking about specialists here, residents, or just some random GP straight out of med school after their internship????????????
Specialization still takes a few more years of training.

And I'm not even counting ER work, because everyone there pulls a bigger paycheck, but they also work way more hours than what’s actually written in their contracts.

Taylor Patel6 said:Are they already specialists, residents, or just practicing general practitioners????????????
Specialization still requires a few more years of residency training.

And I’m not even counting ER work—everyone there gets a slightly higher paycheck, sure, but they end up working way more hours than what's actually written in their contract.

General practice. They're already out there working. And some have already finished their fellowships—especially those in private practice. They can bill you for everything within five minutes.$100. 😂 🤷 👎

Susan Rodriguez72 said:I’d say the exact same thing about psychologists. :P
Everyone acts like they're the smartest person in the room, mostly because they actually have the tools—and some even have the nerve—to manipulate people!

Just read that American psychologists decided to classify anger as a disorder, right alongside binge eating...

According to them, that means anger is basically a primary emotion, so we're all born messed up. Makes total sense. Bravo.

So there you go, kids. Now you've officially learned how to be real Americans: wasting even more time on absolute nonsense.

Donna Wood52 said:General practice. They're already out there working. And some have already finished their fellowships—especially those in private practice. They can bill you for everything within five minutes.$100. 😂 🤷 👎

I'd love to know how general practitioners make that kind of money if they aren't working in an ER 🙄

Residency takes four years of schooling, plus opening a private practice isn't cheap
Go ahead, spend eleven years in training and sink all that cash into opening your own clinic, then you can start billing too $100 🤣

Donna Wood52 said:Look, I get that med school is brutal, but they can't exactly expect to walk out the door with a $150,000 salary on day one. 🤷 but hey, they always seem pretty comfortable.

And back in the day, a law degree used to take four years; now it’s five. Just saying. Not that I'm calling it easy—God, no—it's just incredibly tedious. 👎

and certainly not law school. 👍

Exactly. Even a junior associate at a big firm isn't pulling in massive numbers right away. If you look at it this way... take my former department head, for example... comparing a legal intern to a brand-new resident doctor...
I know firsthand what it takes to survive law school, let alone the grueling process of studying for the Bar exam.
To reiterate, some people are rolling in it, while others are barely making ends meet.

Medical interns earn between $4,200 and $1533, depending on their location. Once licensed—meaning they are practicing physicians, not yet specialists (keep in mind general practice itself requires a five-year specialization)—salaries hover around $5,000 to $2000, though emergency medicine pays more due to on-call shifts and irregular hours.
A specialist, following six years of medical school, one year of internship, and five years of residency, earns $3000, which increases significantly if they work hospital shifts.
Go ahead and try to compare those salaries to the training required for janitorial staff. This isn't about disparaging anyone; it's a matter of fact. You don't need even a high school diploma to clean, whereas a physician's education spans over twenty years.

Doctors carry the same kind of weight a pilot does. But here’s the kicker: a pilot can actually say, "Look, I’m feeling under the weather, I can't fly today." A surgeon doesn't get that luxury. They’re expected to show up and cut people open even if they're running a fever.
Medical errors aren't happening because doctors are incompetent; it's because they're burnt out. We're talking 12-hour shifts every single day for maybe 8000-$3333.
I'm honestly dying to see how Rhode Island plans to implement those new rules capping workweeks at 40 hours—meaning 8-hour days with zero on-call shifts or weekend work—now that that's becoming the standard across the European Union.
Either hourly rates have to skyrocket, or we're going to have doctors with 20 years of experience working for peanuts $2000.

driftingbadger5 said:Doctors carry the same kind of weight a pilot does. But here’s the kicker: a pilot can actually say, "Look, I’m feeling under the weather, I can't fly today." A surgeon doesn't get that luxury. They’re expected to show up and cut people open even if they're running a fever.
Medical errors aren't happening because doctors are incompetent; it's because they're burnt out. We're talking 12-hour shifts every single day for maybe 8000-$3333.
I'm honestly dying to see how Rhode Island plans to implement those new rules capping workweeks at 40 hours—meaning 8-hour days with zero on-call shifts or weekend work—now that that's becoming the standard across the European Union.
Either hourly rates have to skyrocket, or we're going to have doctors with 20 years of experience working for peanuts $2000.

Would you actually let someone operate on you if they were running a fever? Are you out of your mind? A doctor in that condition might as well sign the death certificate right then and there!
A physician shouldn't even be touching a patient with a low-grade fever, let alone during fibrillation!

doctors are overworked, averaging 12-hour shifts every single day, making maybe $8,000-$3333.

Sure, plenty of them pull 12-hour shifts or longer, but only when they're on call. And they aren't making $8,000-$10,000; that's what the nurses make! Maybe some intern straight out of med school is pulling in less than $8k, but everyone else—especially those working on-call—is definitely clearing at least $10k. Let's not kid ourselves.

Medical errors happen because of exhaustion, sure, but far more often they stem from pure negligence and carelessness!

Susan Rodriguez72 said:Would you actually let someone operate on you if they were running a fever? Are you out of your mind? A doctor in that condition might as well sign the death certificate right then and there!
A physician shouldn't even be touching a patient with a low-grade fever, let alone during fibrillation!

doctors are overworked, averaging 12-hour shifts every single day, making maybe $8,000-$3333.

Sure, plenty of them pull 12-hour shifts or longer, but only when they're on call. And they aren't making $8,000-$10,000; that's what the nurses make! Maybe some intern straight out of med school is pulling in less than $8k, but everyone else—especially those working on-call—is definitely clearing at least $10k. Let's not kid ourselves.

Medical errors happen because of exhaustion, sure, but far more often they stem from pure negligence and carelessness!

Don't lecture people on things you don't understand. I've assisted in surgeries while running a fever more than once. Patients can't always wait, and there aren't enough doctors on call.🙄

Susan Rodriguez72 said:Would you actually let someone operate on you if they were running a fever? Are you out of your mind? A doctor in that condition might as well sign the death certificate right then and there!
A physician shouldn't even be touching a patient with a low-grade fever, let alone during fibrillation!

doctors are overworked, averaging 12-hour shifts every single day, making maybe $8,000-$3333.

Sure, plenty of them pull 12-hour shifts or longer, but only when they're on call. And they aren't making $8,000-$10,000; that's what the nurses make! Maybe some intern straight out of med school is pulling in less than $8k, but everyone else—especially those working on-call—is definitely clearing at least $10k. Let's not kid ourselves.

Medical errors happen because of exhaustion, sure, but far more often they stem from pure negligence and carelessness!

Nurses making 8-10 $0.00??😂🤣
Nothing beats watching people talk nonsense about medicine when they clearly have zero clue. Even students and interns earn $2667.😂🤣

Susan Rodriguez72 said:Would you actually let someone operate on you if they were running a fever? Are you out of your mind? A doctor in that condition might as well sign the death certificate right then and there!
A physician shouldn't even be touching a patient with a low-grade fever, let alone during fibrillation!

doctors are overworked, averaging 12-hour shifts every single day, making maybe $8,000-$3333.

Sure, plenty of them pull 12-hour shifts or longer, but only when they're on call. And they aren't making $8,000-$10,000; that's what the nurses make! Maybe some intern straight out of med school is pulling in less than $8k, but everyone else—especially those working on-call—is definitely clearing at least $10k. Let's not kid ourselves.

Medical errors happen because of exhaustion, sure, but far more often they stem from pure negligence and carelessness!

And "carelessness" usually happens because people are exhausted. 🙄

Anthony Stewart22 said:Don't lecture people on things you don't understand. I've assisted in surgeries while running a fever more than once. Patients can't always wait, and there aren't enough doctors on call.🙄

Nurses making 8-10 $0.00??😂🤣
Nothing beats watching people talk nonsense about medicine when they clearly have zero clue. Even students and interns earn $2667.😂🤣

And "carelessness" usually happens because people are exhausted. 🙄

Exactly. Most people have no clue what the reality of the healthcare system looks like. Because certain specialists in private practice—like OB-GYNs—make good money, people assume doctors are just pulling cash out of thin air 🤣 🤣
In reality, every single dollar is hard-earned.

Here is some data on wages for those who refuse to believe me.