Noble Profession? Don't Do Us Any Favors. Please.

In My Humble Opinion
1

Someone mentioned recently that she and her sister have become a lawyer and doctor (respectively) not because they have a passion for the work or a desire to help people, but because it’s what their parents wanted them to do. She specifically says they’re in their chosen fields for the “end” (money and respect), and maintain lives outside of work that give them real satisfaction.

And, you know, I’m thinking – gee, that’s great for you and your parents. I’m glad you’re happy and all (and of course you worked hard for what you’ve got). But really, I’d rather have someone else as my doctor and lawyer. Someone for whom the work is an end. I really don’t want my kid to be your trophy patient, proof to your parents that they “raised you right”.

Reminds me of the time my BIL had major back surgery - he’d just been released to his room, and the nurses chased us out in order to settle him in. So my Sister and I went to the hospital gift shop to buy him balloons and whatnot. Who did we run into at the cash register, but his surgeon. Buying lottery tickets.

2

Call me a cynic, but I suspect a lot of doctors and especially lawyers are in it for the money. Sure, they may feel good when they’re able to help someone out, but ultimately a lot of people want those jobs because they pay really well. If people were in it just for the satisfaction of helping people, wouldn’t we see a lot more doctors working in public clinics and lawyers taking pro bono cases? If those jobs paid what teachers earn, wouldn’t law school and med school applications dry up?

Personally, I don’t care why my doctor went into the profession. As long as they do their job well, that’s fine by me.

3

I am going to disagree with you here. I think a person can be very, very good at something that they have no passion for. I think they may be miserable doing it, but it doesn’t mean they can’t be good at it.

I teach, and I do have a passion for teaching. It’s in my blood, it’s always what I wanted to do, it gives me all the satisfaction in the world. And I am a damn good teacher.

That said, I have collegues who don’t have a particular passion for their work, who chose it for reasons that seem colder–same work schedule as their kids, summers off, flexibility of employment when a spouse has a specialty career, and for hte oldest generation, women who knew they didn’t want to be a nurse and thought they only had the two options–and some of them are damn fine teachers as well. One or two come to mind as being better teachers than I am, and that’s the hardest thing in the world for me admit.

Furthermore, and this is perhaps the greatest surprise, there are some very passionate, dedicated teachers in our building who suck. Nothing is happening in their classroom, for all their dedication and enthusiasm. They lack the skills or apitude to be good teachers.

So while there is a coorelation between passion and dedication and competence, in my experience, it’s a weak one.

Being passionate about what I do makes my life easier and more enjoyable. In and of itself, it doesn’t make me good at my job.

4

I hear what you’re saying, but to Devil’s Advocate for a minute: shouldn’t people know that their “honored” professions are fallible humans, too? I don’t understand the mindset of people who revere their doctor and think they can do no wrong. Of course they can do wrong! They can make bad judgement calls, have bad, distracted moods or just plain make mistakes. They can be in it for the money, to put their kids through college and collect a paycheck, just like the rest of us.

My grandmother ended up with a useless, painful knee because her surgeon bungled the close and ignored the obvious signs of infection. Grandma trusted him so implicitly to be a good person and good doctor that she refused to get a second opinion and even went to the same doctor for surgery on her other knee - which, surprise! is also a mess.

Don’t get me wrong, I respect my doctor, and think she’s a pretty smart person who knows a lot of stuff. But she’s my tool. I use her for information, to know what tests I need when and to lay out my options for me. I know she’s not perfect, so I also do research on my own. I am, in the end, the only person responsible for my health care. So I may choose not to follow her advice, or to follow a course of treatment that she would personally rank as her third preferance. That’s my right and responsibility. But I think going in with open eyes and seeing that doctors (and lawyers) aren’t gods is the only way to stay safe.

No one expects that a cashier is there for the love of customer service, or a mechanic for a love of cars. Now, they all probably have times when they experience a love of their work, but it’s not always the motivating factor. I don’t get why “noble” professions should only attract perfect, altruistic human beings. If they did, they’d probably have a lot of flakes and philosophers and not a lot of practical get-er-done types.

If you want to help people and bandage owies, you’re more likely to become a nurse, in my experience. Doctors want something else, and for most of them it’s money, power and prestige.

5

Hot tip. People with less talent, spend less time qualifying, to work shorter hours, for better money: In Finance and Investment.

6

How many hours do you work a week and how many do you think a doctor works a week?

My doctor logs over 60 hrs a week. I know a corporate lawyer (actually a couple) who log over 70 hrs a week.

7

Um, so? I had back surgery done- it took 8.5 hours to complete. I wouldn’t have been surprised if my doctor was at the neighborhood bar slamming back shots 10 minutes after he was finished. Why is it bad that he was at the gift shop buying lottery tickets? He was done with his part for the day- does he not have the right to do what he wants after?

Whatever.

8

BoBettie, fessie’s point is simply that buying lottery tickets is buying an escape fantasy: the odds of winning the lottery are so small, but buying a ticket permits one to dream about escaping. If the surgeon were so happy with his job, why is he trying to buy a lottery ticket out?

fessie, I’m a lawyer, and right now this is interview season. We’re interviewing students who have just begun their second year of law school for a position with the firm next summer. At the end of that summer, and before they begin their third and final year of law school, we’ll make some or all of those students permanent offers.

When I ask most of them why they went to law school, I can tell that the answer they give isn’t the truth, but the “right interveiw answer.” For some, it was an expectation of their parents that they’d do some kind of graduate school; for others, it was simply that they didn’t know what they wanted to do with their lives, and law school delayed the decision another three years. Many, if not most, of the lawyers that I work with for whom this is not a passion wash out after a while, and they take jobs where, while they are doing legal work, it isn’t that challenging, and the hours permit them to make their lives outside the office the focus. But, you’re right: I wouldn’t want any of them working on my bet-the-house case.

I don’t like working with the lawyers for whom this is not a passion. They aren’t as thorough; they do what’s asked, instead of what’s needed; and they’re usually pretty unhappy until they get out.

Me, I went to law school because I couldn’t figure out what I wanted to do with my life, and law school would delay the decision. Fortunately, I love what I do now. (Sure, there are parts I don’t like, but overall, it’s great.) But once in a while, I admit I do buy a lottery ticket. :wink:

9

I hope that’s not what she meant, because that is honest to god the stupidest thing I’ve heard in ages. What do you think, because he’s a surgeon he’s so filthy rich that he wouldn’t like to win the lottery? OK, whatever. We’re clearly just on different planes here entirely. That makes zero sense.
boggles

10

Seriously. I’d love to win the lottery - doesn’t mean I’d quit my job. It means I’d get to take excellent vacations and live in a fancy house and give money to my relatives. All while still following my career.

11

Maybe he was hoping to win the money so he could open that free medical clinic in the Amazon wilderness he’d always dreamed of.

12

I’m a teacher and I regularly do 80 hour weeks (I’ve had quarters of 10 consecutive 100 hour weeks). So what’s your point?

13

I’m not really certain where this overreaction comes from, but permit me simply to point out that the notion isn’t stupid, and that the odds of winning the lottery are poor: rational people do not play the lottery to win, they play because they want to dream of winning.

This hijack is neither constructive nor interesting, so apologies to fessie, and I’m bowing out of this thread.

14

I disagree. I know a number of intelligent and rational people that play lottery, not because they dream of winning, but because they actually enjoy the whole process. They find buying the ticket, seeing the drawing, checking the ticket, and throwing it away to be rewarding in and of itself without winning anything. If you enjoy it, what’s $1 wasted on it?

15

There aren’t enough rolleyes in the world for this one.

Now in order to be a physician, it needs to be my calling, too? Not just a career I find interesting and rewarding, which gives me both satisfaction and no small amount of grief?

Sorry, my family comes first. I’d give it all up in a heartbeat if I needed to, in order to better serve my loved ones (and my patients are not my loved ones).

And I buy lottery tickets, too. Whenever it goes up above 200 million, I throw a few bucks in, either in the general office pool, or on my own. It adds up to $10 bucks a week to own a piece of the dream.

I will do my best to not do you any favors.

16

Sorry, that should read “$10 a year”.

17

Oh, I’m sure that most doctors and lawyers work a lot of hours; a lawyer friend of mine turned down a high-powered corporate gig specifically because it was a 90-hr/wk commitment. I didn’t say it was easy work; really, it’s the fact that it’s NOT easy work, nor an easy path to get there, that makes me suspicious of those for whom it’s not also a passion.

Personally, I work 13 hrs/day, 7 days/week, less about 10 hours of time off spread throughout the week. And I’m also on-call all night (I was up from 5:30-6:30 last night and the night before). But I’m a SAHM of twin toddlers :wink: . If I weren’t absolutely passionate about this job, it would be a truly miserable existence.

I’d explain the lottery ticket further, but a naked kid just ran into the room…

18

I’m glad you corrected that. I would have thought you had a problem. :wink:

Could someone please explain the Noble profession part of the Op? I guess I missed this term.

Fessie, I do not understand why buying a lottery ticket is so bad in your book. I buy them less than even QtM, but I always figured I was renting a hope and a dream until I found out the results. I buy them knowing their is a vanishingly small chance of winning, but it would not appear to disqualify a Professional from being, well professional.

Jim

19

I met a fellow the other day studying law at the university here. He didn’t strike me as the lawerly type and I asked him “Are you sure you’re up to the task? Is that what you really want to do?”

His response: “Well you know, chicks are really materialistic out here.”

20

I have to say I don’t understand people who choose careers they hate.

Not Wal-Mart cashiers. I mean things you have to invest in, things you have to spend four or more years in college learning. Why invest all of that time in something you hate, just because it gets you money? Why? Over half of your time is going to be spent being completely miserable, and yeah, you’ll have a nice house and a nice car and you’re still going to be miserable because you hate your job.

I have a low-paying job that I absolutely love. I know that if I don’t get more money eventually some day I am going to have to quit the job, and it makes me very, very sad because I love this job so much. I can’t understand why someone would invest time and money into a career that they hate. I really can’t. I’d rather be poor and happy than rich and miserable, thanks.

That said, I, too, wouldn’t trust a doctor who only went into it for the money. All of my doctors work at county clinics, which generally means they like their work and want to help people, not that they’re getting a lot of money. And all of the doctors and nurses there are some of the happiest healthcare professionals I’ve ever seen. They don’t drive fancy cars, they don’t have huge homes, but they come to work every day with smiles on their faces.

~Tasha