Lawyers, because I am one and work with others. Before that? I suppose it would have been doctors, just by virtue of the fact I have seen a doctor or two in my day, but never had to do regular checkups with a lawyer.
Similar. The more i think about it, the more lawyers i come up with, including 2 or 3 cousins (although one has been retired for a while.) But I’m pretty sure i know more doctors. I still know some of my father’s colleagues socially, a pair of doctors live acoess the street, a doctor’s husband will come to our new years Eve party. Another doctor might come, although maybe only his wife will make it. There are doctors i solve puzzles with. A doctor married to another cousin…
It’s possible i know about the same of both, and I’m just more comfortable talking shop with the doctors.
I’m a lawyer myself, so I probably know more lawyers. Professionally and personally, I should add.
A neighbour was a veterinarian with a DVM, and a long-ago beer-league softball teammate was an MD, but that’s been about the extent of me knowing any kind of physician.
Probably we should restrict those of us who are doctors or lawyers from answering the poll. It kinds biases our experiences.
Childhood best friend, brother, one of his kids, several acquaintances lawyers, but many other good friends, brother in law, one son, all doctors. Definitely doctors.
Third place would be therapists. My wife is one, my daughter is becoming one, they are present in our social circle.
Which gets me thinking of a related question - what’s the most common job in your social circle?
And are there lots of consultants? Not in my circles but it seems like almost all the men my daughter has gone out with over this last year have that as their job title.
I know more doctors than lawyers, although I was pretty good friends with a lawyer when I lived in Tokyo.
I also know a number of dentists from my children’s sailing club. There is a doctor there as well.
If you allow the term to be used very broadly, then it is without a doubt “teacher.” But it includes professors, preschool teachers, Hebrew school teachers (yes, we plan lessons and teach); speech/language pathologists; Yoga instructors. Anyone who gets up in front of other people, and successfully passes along knowledge.
We actually probably have more of those than the doctors and lawyers put together.
Doctors but somewhat unfair as I have two sisters (and one brother in law) who are doctors
Also my wife’s family (which is large) are immigrants from the British Caribbean so very heavy on doctors and nurses
In my immediate family alone - siblings, in laws, parents, and niblings - I have 4 lawyers and 2 doctors. I would say I know more lawyers overall.
Because both my parents worked in hospitals all their working lives, I used to know many medical personnel, but none of them were Doctors. Now, many decades later, I still don’t know any, nor have I ever known a Lawyer.
A lawyer or two, hundreds of doctors over the years.
Something I’ve learned about doctors that I will share: they are (usually) very, very smart about what they do, but they may or may not know the capital of Canada or who shot Lincoln.
mmm
Since the OP asked for personal acquaintances… 1 doctor, zero lawyers.
I’ve known 2 lawyers personally as family friends. They’re both in prison for the foreseeable future so I don’t know if that still counts as “knowing” them. (No contact any more).
I play poker regularly with a bunch of guys, and one of them is a Doctor. I still “know” him and occasionally have a few beers at his house.
I guess I “know” more Doctors if the question refers to present contact.
About equal.
I have a lot of lawyers in my family, and when I was doing BD I was meeting with colleague lawyers all the time.
Since I’m in pharmaceuticals, and used to run drug development programs, I know lots of doctors both who were clinicians in the trials I ran but also colleagues at the companies I worked for.
If PhDs counted (and I am not one), then I know literally hundreds.
That’s true of a lot of people who know a lot about one thing. My mother had a PhD in linguistics, and spoke 8 languages, but could never remember how to program the VCR.
I only know more doctors because my wife was a high-level administrator at a local medical school. Otherwise, it would have been about an even split between doctors/lawyers.
IME that’s common for PhDs in general. When you spend years becoming an expert on one very specific thing, your pool of “common knowledge” tends to be shallower.
Do psychiatrists count as doctors? Because then it’s 5-1 doctors to lawyers. Otherwise 2-1.
Psychiatrists are medical doctors, full fledged physicians with an MD or DO from a four year medical school, followed by 3-5 year residency for their psychiatry specialty.
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