<p>A few weeks ago a few med school students took on law school students in a lively debate about the positive aspects of each profession. Of course they used the "you can't live without doctors approach" but it brought up a good point. Many lawyers could have been doctors if there was that kind of desire. After looking at certain specialties such as Emergency Medicine where it is not uncommon to work less than 40 hours and pull in close to $200,000 a year it is hard to find an equivalent in the legal field. There are also quite a few medical students with 0 social skills (and some that barely speak English)that wouldn't last a day in a courtroom but think they are better than us simply because of their chosen profession. </p>
<p>What are some of your thoughts regarding the merits of Law vs Medicine?</p>
<p>I think that it's like comparing apples and bananas. Both are great in their own way, and we like having both around, but you can't really say one is better than another.</p>
<p>This two careers aren't even comparable, both have great aspects and bad ones.</p>
<p>The whole money argument for doctors is stupid, they spend around 3 more years in school/interning making next to nothing while some lawyers are pulling in well over 100k.</p>
<p>How many doctors make an annual salary in the millions? It's not that uncommon for partners to make this.</p>
<p>also if you're going into medicine for money you are a fool, I also think that anyone who wants to work less than 40 hours a week is an underachiever and will never make much of themselves in either profession.</p>
<p>Emergency medicine isn't for everyone. It takes a lot of character to be able to be able to constantly deal with bureaucracy, incompetence, and uncertainty that's prevalent in any hospital on a day to day basis while people's lives depend on your ability to. They deserve their pay.</p>
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also if you're going into medicine for money you are a fool, I also think that anyone who wants to work less than 40 hours a week is an underachiever and will never make much of themselves in either profession.
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<p>I don't think that wanting to work 40 or fewer hours a week means you're an underachiever. It just means that you value things other than work. I, for one, don't want to work more than 50 hours a week at any job simply because I'd like to have time for my family and hobbies.</p>
<p>I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with valuing family or other things, in fact family always comes first, I just think it's silly to want to work 40 hours a week in professions that are known for ridiculous work hours.</p>
<p>I dunno about that, really... I know plenty of doctors and lawyers who have 40 hour work weeks. Sure, they aren't the hotshots that they could be, but they're doing what they enjoy and making enough money to be comfortable. That's what's nice about medicine or law. You can go high power or you can go 40 hours a week.</p>
<p>As said before, both have pros and cons. Doctors are seen as more noble, but I think lawyers are noble in their own right. They are, in essence, interpreters and gatekeepers of law, a position that can be used for both good and bad. Lawyers have gotten a bad rep recently for a lot of reasons: percieved immorality, greed, perpetuators of an unfair justice system. At the same time, there a lot of very good lawyers out there doing good things.</p>
<p>As for money, I'll echo what has already been said. The salary range for lawyers ranges from as little as 50k for a public defender/small town lawyer to millions---literally millions per year---for partners at the top firms. Of course, to become one of the latter, one must go to a very top (usually top 14) law school and work almost unthinkable hours as an associate for seven years. Doctors, on the other hand, usually have a smaller salary range but even few make less than 75k/year.</p>
<p>I'm obviously not being clear enough as I was basically saying what you were I agree, there is nothing wrong with working 40hr/wk but like you said not many are going to be "hot shots" doing this. I'm not trying to disparage anyone for doing this I'm just saying that it is very unlikely to make top salary in either field if you aren't willing to put in a LOT of hours.</p>
<p>Trizkutt has got it right, sure, in general, there are more "noble" doctors but to say that there aren't lawyers who are noble is silly.</p>
<p>I would say that some of the lawyers who take 35k/year to work as a public defender because they want to make a difference are nobler than most doctors who make 100k+. There are a lot of crusaders in both fields who are noble, just as there are many who are in it for the wrong reasons; you just hear about it less with physicians.</p>