# Why are doctors and lawyers still seen at the top of the occupation prestige rankings? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 2, 2013, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-doctors-and-lawyers-still-seen-at-the-top-of-the-occupation-prestige-rankings/667837 "2013-09-02T22:52:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-doctors-and-lawyers-still-seen-at-the-top-of-the-occupation-prestige-rankings/667837/81 "2017-04-07T18:36:34Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I liked the show House of Lies about my profession (management consulting). And while some of it did ring true, much of it was a lot of BS. In that case, I suspect it’s the pressure for billable hours that leads those professions to bill in ways that either are sketchy, or seem excessive to the average person. For example, my wife was told that she could bill while on the throne at work, if she was thinking about a case. Sketchy. In my own consultant experience, I ultimately got fired because I called out a partner as crooked, because he was pushing to have us use this arcane SQL code formatting standard that would literally take us dozens of extra hours per project in order to get it all just so, when there were automated code formatters that would format the code exactly the same way, every single time in seconds. Maybe not exactly the way these guys wanted it done, but it was SO much faster and SO much more consistent, that the only conclusion I could come to was that these clowns deliberately wanted us spending extra billable time formatting SQL code to an unnecessary and arcane standard so they could bill for it. And in the way the partnership rules worked, they personally profited from those extra hours. But people don’t like being told that they’re doing something shitty and unethical, especially when an underling is insubordinate in the process, so they let me go. It’s stuff like that which gives people the perception that these professions are populated by dickheads. Being billed for a 5 minute phone call, or for hours and hours of formatting sql code that could have been done in an automated fashion in seconds are great examples. ---
**Author:** ![Navy\_draftee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ec9cab/32.png) [@Navy\_draftee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Navy_draftee)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-doctors-and-lawyers-still-seen-at-the-top-of-the-occupation-prestige-rankings/667837/82 "2017-04-07T18:54:45Z")
I think it has a lot to do with the ADDITIONAL education/schooling required to be a doctor or lawyer. Thus, I regard Veterinarians highly, also. (although some people seem to rank them below Doctors who treat humans ) I believe it was Will Rogers who ranked Veterinarians **higher** because he said…" a patient can tell a doctor what their symptoms are. A Veterinarian has to know " ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-doctors-and-lawyers-still-seen-at-the-top-of-the-occupation-prestige-rankings/667837/83 "2017-04-07T19:13:54Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Interestingly, there are a lot of “prestige” professions which pay very well, but in many cases are also viewed as unsavory rackets peopled by the worlds biggest dickheads. > > Investment bankers and other finance people, lawyers, politicians, management consultants, political consultants, lobbyists, entertainment agents, even Silicon Valley tech executives. People tend to distrust others with opaque power. And since most of those professions involve arcane knowledge _and_ have disproportinate impact on society as a whole, well, people are suspicious of them as a class. Add a few carefully-selected, generally-rare, but over-hyped horror stories, and things take on a familiar slant. Which slant generates page views and ratings - it’s profitable. > [@](#): > > I liked the show House of Lies about my profession (management consulting). And while some of it did ring true, much of it was a lot of BS. :: nod nod :: Yup. Different industries, but combine the power of popular ‘common knowledge’ (which generally _isn’t_ actual real knowledge) and the desire to sell advertising space/tickets/pageviews/what-have-you, and away you go…! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-doctors-and-lawyers-still-seen-at-the-top-of-the-occupation-prestige-rankings/667837.md?page=4)