>

I always see it as how much brain space someone has. If all my brain is focused on brain surgery I’m not going to have much space for other things. Plus if I’ve only been studying one thing for that long, the rest of the world and things will fall to the wayside
I work in an operating room, and I have colleagues who I’d allow to dissect brain tissue with full confidence that they are the right person for the job who I wouldn’t trust to make me a peanut butter and jam sandwich. >

same thing happens in engineering and techincians fields. I have had coworker I wouldn't trust with a screwdrive near me and ones I would trust to fix or build anything.
An MD seems like a really intense technical/trades degree. >

It's a trend that high aptitude in a prestigious field can often inhibit a broader understanding in other areas. Since people like that assume skill and understanding translate cleanly instead of realizing it is hilariously inconsistent. >

Most people learn 1 field in a school and don't really need to learn anything else in life. The chance of becoming a doctor is also tied to wealth and comfort in childhood years. Middle class at least, or parents willing to financially support you. >

I didn't touch on this but the other issue is that highly specialized fields often pull away studying and attention from broader subjects.
People like to complain about the Liberal Arts or a broader approach to primary education. But the benefit is your knowledge is more well rounded (In theory at least). >

Not even in theory. Ever meet a Classics major? Holy shit,  they're some of the smartest people I've met.
Pre-med seniors? Can barely make a grilled cheese sandwich. >

I'm 42 years old and this is the first time anybody mentioned my degree without making fun of me! 
Thank you! >

Aw, all those dead languages weren't for nothing. >

My sister has a phd. She also managed to drive 600 miles without headlights. >

How do you know how far it was? >

Gps, maps,odometers... She drove entirely at night and said nothing changed. >

Is she an owl? >

On a clear sky night, with decent moonlight you actually have better visibility without the headlights, the problem is that no one else can see you.
Me and my sister call these people "The Batman", see someone driving at night without headlight "Oh shit, did you see that, it's the Batman!" >

I work in IT and supported many doctors over the years.  I once had a brain surgeon tell me he was so dumb because he couldn’t figure out his computer issue and ad to call support.  I said look man calling yourself dumb for not knowing how to get a windows machine to boot after a boot sector mess up isn’t dumb.  I am not going to walk into a operating room and look at a human with their head cracked open getting operated on and call myself stupid for not knowing that.  You are highly trained in what you do better than probably 1% of the population you are not dumb but it is humbling. >

My wife is an MD. I hang out with doctors from time to time. Yea, I've run into quite a few that seem pretty stupid. Then again, we're all pretty stupid every now and then. It just goes to show that doctors are human too. >

It’s more that they spend such a large amount of time and energy devoted to a very specific skill set. Not all of them had time, money or energy to develop a lot of the other things people with less strenuous studies did. >

Such as social tact. >

Can confirm lol. Some of the best doctors that patients love are complete asshats in general >

I’ve met more dumb people who weren’t doctors than dumb people who were. >

Lol touché >

No one ever said every physician was an Einstein, but every physician in the US is going to be in the top 1% most intelligent and most educated people with regards to medical sciences. 
You may have had some anecdotal experiences with doctors without interpersonal skills or who were overburdened and overworked by the healthcare system within the United States but it doesn’t make what you have written true. Additionally, posts like this lead to a mistrust in the healthcare system as a whole. If you don’t like a particular doctor or how a particular health system works fine, don’t go there anymore. But don’t spew out blanket statements like you have here. >

Physician, as well.  I will say, by, at least American standards, I guess physicians are more "intelligent" by grades and whatnot.  I have no idea how to do 99% of what my friends do at their individual jobs.  We just have different training. 
 Usually, to get into an american medical school, you need at least around an A-/3.7 GPA (maybe 3.5) in college and good MCAT score.  I don't think that is 1%, though.  I will credit those that say "they are focused on what they are doing" and get tunnel vision.  Definitely true.  Including myself.  That being said, I am very surprised by the lack of a broad base of knowledge from many of my colleagues.  When it comes to some of the ole high school classes that were emphasized...history, literature, geography, etc...many have very poor knowledge in these subjects.  Always found it weird.  
The "mistrust in the healthcare system" is a different topic that I feel for FIRE_CHIP on.  We live in difficult times, especially since the covid pandemic, and infowars.  I 100% sympathize with this.  Not because the OP comment is flawed, but because of the culture we currently live in.  With infowars and the like/conspiracy theories/antivax...you name it, people try to grab whatever juice they can find, and run with it.  But, despite my sympathies, does that mean we can never talk critically about certain topic just because some people are going to abuse misinformation.  My answer is we cannot >

Unless you're an URM, you probably aren't getting into med school with a 3.7 let alone a 3.5 >

I got into a few top med schools less than 10 years ago with a 3.7. 3.5+ is fine I think if everything else is in line. >

You're underestimating the arms race it has become, it is no longer fine >

There is a degree of correlation between education and intelligence but it’s not cut and dry. 
Some people only make it through advanced degrees because they are stubborn and hard working, or cheat their way through school. 
There are plenty of highly intelligent individuals who can’t pursue advanced degrees due to the cost, or simply aren’t motivated enough to do so.
There is a smaller population of people who are highly intelligent AND passionate about what they study. That being said, not every person with a high IQ has a high EQ. You could be a master of your trade but an idiot when it comes to people / common sense / street smartness.
Lastly, there is a very small population of highly intelligent individuals with high emotional intelligence and great social skills. Edit: removed part about smart, high EQ people being good leaders or CXO’a because this is apparently very controversial >

And there are those who end up doing masters/PhD because they can't find a job. >

True, especially in the humanities. Pretty easy to get a STEM job with a bachelors >

Depends on the field. Chemistry is notorious for needing a PhD if you want to do anything besides being a lab tech. >

same with biology. or many basic sciences. STEMs getting good jobs right away is becoming a myth for all the non-engineers >

On a similar note, some of the most unstable, immature people I've ever known are therapist. >

Real as hell, a lot of people study psychology to understand their own issues better. >

My friend has a joke that basically goes “Women get degrees in psychology just to get manipulated by dudes who struggled through special ed” lmao. >

Brutal >

I honestly think it’s because a lot of doctors use ALL of their brain juice on doctor-ing. My cousin is a paediatric surgeon and is fantastic at her job, i’d trust her with anything medical - I have also seen her nearly get run over by cars on SEVERAL occasions. The woman can operate on children but has not yet mastered crossing the road… >


The woman can operate on children but has not yet mastered crossing the road…

Wait a second, I think your cousin might be married to u/AoiGyoshi's friend!

A guy I know is married to a Ph.D. Apparently, in her field, she is one of the smartest people ever. I have seen her struggle to cross the street by herself. She has zero common sense. >

PhDs don't do surgery. >

A lot of doctors are double PhD and MD. The geneticists I work with are. >

Some neurosurgical programs end with both MD and PhD. >

In the netherlands it is almost fully a requirement to have a PhD before being accepted into neurosurgery residency >

I used to work in higher ed. Some, if not most of the PhD's I worked with I wouldn't trust with a butter knife. >

My husband had a fellow PhD student set something on fire in their lab because they were that clueless. >

Know a Environmental Engineering PhD candidate that lost an F-250 4x4 in a field to a fire. Allegedly the exhaust could not have possibly caught the grass of fire. Anyway, the only thing left was the license tag, even the engine block melted. The best part was the project was a joint effort between Civil Engineering and Geology, the truck belonged to the Geology department, which is in the College of Arts & Sciences, so no one in his department or the College of Engineering really cared and he still matriculated with a PhD. >

That just reminds me of Matt Damon's/Mark Watney's anecdote in the Martian on how JPL got started. >

Don't mistake education for intelligence >

Try teaching pre-med students in STEM courses. They're absolutely obsessed with their grades and will hound you to Hell and back over every missing point, yet they refuse to understand that actually understanding the material might help their grades.
Rote memorization until the day of the test, then just forget everything. >

that's what highschool does to a brain, specially those that want to go to high grades universities like med school.. People loose curiosity, interest, creativity, etc and just start looking into "how to maximize my grade with the less effort possible for this career path" >

Why would I spend 200k to be curious though. I need a job and want to make money and school is a means to get there >


Why would I spend 200k to be curious though

IMO, because it's the most valuable pursuit in life. >

I mean I’m curious and learn lots of stuff but it’s not something I’m going to learn at school. I have the worlds knowledge available to me with the internet. I spend my time learning about fishing and my hobbies. I can go learn what physics makes an arrow fly better and how to tune my bow setup to work better. I don’t care about 17th century history or whatever most of my gen eds focused on. I have to work to afford my hobbies and college was the most practical way to do that. I’m able to work when I fall mountain biking and hurt myself unlike my trades friends. >

To be honest, I think schooling （at least in my country) is just meant to select candidates who can survive under endless boring task, and be careful enough to answer questions correctly, because those quality are what cooperation and government looking for. 
Curiousity is good, but I think that is just a bonus in education system. >

Yeah the degree shows you have some level of understanding of a subject and that you were able to do the work, meet deadlines and show up. If someone has a degree and a second equal person doesn’t it is just easier for an hr person to take the candidate with a degree >

I am a med student. 
I used to think that some of my peers are some of the dumbest and most childish people I’ve met in my life. 
Then I started clinical years and I met actually stupid people. It blew my mind how wrong I was. 
Do you have to be brilliant to become a doctor? Absolutely not. Most of us are just more hardworking and narcissistic than the average person. Probably higher than average intelligence, but not geniuses or anything. 
Are there doctors who you have met that are literally some of the dumbest people you’ve met? Probably not, unless you don’t interact with people that much.
Edit - Spelling >

You sound exactly like my daughter. Worked her butt off to be top 10 in a large HS, started pre med, then was diagnosed as ADD and dyslexic. We thought, oh well, her volleyball skills were paying for college, so she will get her degree...... she had other ideas. She applied for considerations for having a disability, and then proceeded to study ALL THE TIME, and graduated with all A's. Studied for a solid 6mos., +12hrs/day to take the MCAT, but never asked if she could have the same considerations as college, so she did above avg, but not well enough to get an offer. One of her advisors asked why she didn't get the considerations, so she applied for and was approved,  studied her butt off for another 6mos, and got a high enough score to get in to the med school at her alma mater. This kid has absolutely no street smarts, no STEM skills, despite my wife and I both being engineers, BUT is the kindest, hardest working human that I know. Would I ask her to show me how to adjust the hospital bed? Nope. Would I trust her to be my Dr? Yup. Everyone is different. >

A medical doctor without STEM skills? >

Hard work is more important than talent 90% of the time. >

I'd call being able to learn enough biology to earn an MD, no matter the amount of effort a STEM skill. >

This is basically why the whole appeal to an authority figure fallacy is a thing.
I've had a similar experience, just completed a PhD and met some unbelievably dense people along the way. >

Yeah, someone having a PhD just means that they have a lot of knowledge in a specific area, it does nothing to guarantee a breadth of knowledge at all, and does even less to make sure that they can actually apply their knowledge. >

Even that is debatable. A lot of phds today are pushed out. People are buying their phds. >

How do you buy a PhD? Honest question, from someone who actually has a PhD. Some fields may be different, but you don't usually pay tuition at all for a PhD. You "pay" for a PhD by doing TA work, teaching, doing research, and getting grants. It's exploitative for sure, but in the sense of the uni exploiting low paid labor, not the PhD student buying a degree. >

Lots of salty people in here because they aren’t as educated as others and are trying to justify their sense of ego. >

I know right? Dont be fooled guys, a phd person is a phd person for a reason. They are not average joes or marys. >

It’s a huge commitment to learning and go figure learning makes you smarter lol >

Education =/= Intelligence >

Some of the dumbest people i know say theyre ReelySmart >

Reelly* 
Learn to spell idiot /s >

I don’t think this is an unpopular opinion. Doctors, like you and I, are human. And some humans are dumb. >

Well to become a qualified doctor takes an insane amount of hard work and accumulation of understanding in the field. 
It just surprises me how some qualified doctors can achieve this. Their academic abilities do not seem to correlate with their overall general intelligence and competence. >

A lot of people are gifted in the area of academics but absolutely have no creativity and applying their knowledge is very difficult.  I know several people who are very brilliant students but have never been able to figure out life. >

Seriously. A lot of people are good at academics and think they're intelligent in all areas... but man, they're some of the stupidest people around. >

There are different kinds of intelligence. Makes sense that some people that are incredibly smart in one area aren’t going to be the same in another. >


there are different kinds of intelligence

Truth right here. I genuinely believe intelligence is not only academic ability, but maturity, compassion, self-reflection, and willingness/capacity to evaluate other viewpoints. 
I’ve tried to communicate with people who showed none of these latter traits, and they were indistinguishable from morons. Their arrogance and selfishness had clouded their minds to the point that new information simply meant nothing to them. >

This reminds me of a story my dad told me a long time ago.
He was working as a mover for a company, they we're moving the super rich doctor out of a multi-million dollar house into another multi-million dollar house. Dude was regarded as one of the best neurosurgeons in our state at the time.
He started screaming and berating the movers because they told him it was physically impossible for them to move this couch down this flight of stairs to the basement where he wanted it. He demanded to know why it wasn't possible.
My dad basically had to sit the guy down and explained to him, that he didn't build the house, and he didn't design the couch, the people that did, did not collaborate with each other, and it is physically impossible for us to move this object down there. There is not enough space no matter which way we twist turn or try to get it down there.
The dude just could not comprehend that a certain shape can't fit in a certain hole, but he was literally a fucking neurosurgeon. I could never in a billion years do the things that this guy does, but at the same time, I would like to think that I could successfully solve a toddler puzzle. >

Did you PIVOT the couch down the stairs? >

Depends what you mean by 'dumb'. A lot of doctors seem to have excellent memory and analytical speed. A lot of academically bright people aren't so smooth socially, it goes beyond medicine. >

Some have so many things to constantly learn in order to be good at this one thing they do, that they don't have time to exercise any other skill or knowledge. My friend is one of them. He is a good doctor and everyone in the hospital trusts him but when it comes to social skills or anything other than his profession he seems dumb as fck. >

Then you haven't met enough actually dumb people. >

As a medical student and being in the field; medical students seem to be lacking in the social department. it's like spending all your points on knowledge and leaving social skills at 0. This leads to awkward interactions with doctors I believe >

I don't disagree. I work in research and the amount of times I've had to educate people with PhD's (I know, not that kind of Dr, but some also have MDs) on how to do very simple every day things just blows my mind. I've even heard some spread misinformation about topics within THEIR OWN FIELD! The whole talk about nepo babies in Hollywood is laughable to me because the amount of nepotism in STEM is insane and no one wants to talk to about it for fear of making people not trust scientists, doctors, etc. But it's important and more needs to be said. >

The more specific the knowledge they have, the shittyer their general knowledge tends to be. >

Ben Carson is one of the most respected neurosurgeons in the world, but his 2016 run for president showed him to an absolute dunderhead when it comes to political matters.
I think there’s a general expectation that if someone is a specialized expert in one field, they are just naturally intelligent/talented people who would obviously excel in any other field as well. The experts themselves often buy into this because it flatters their egos. But in reality, that expectation couldn’t be more incorrect. >

Are you sure you just aren’t falling victim to the dunning Kruger effect?  Like who are you to judge someone’s competence outside of their profession? >

Not to mention your username is ironic >

Not dumb, but incredibly naive, from my experiences. 
I work at a hospital. >

And I would say, out of touch sometimes >

As in actual US (not Caribbean) MDs? A little surprising. Very high barrier to entry.
Now if we were talking JDs I would not be surprised. Anyone with a pulse can get into a law school. Which is why ranking matters so much more
*I also note that a lot of the “dumb doctor” comments I hear are from patients angry at recommendations to lose weight and drink less >

Yes, but then a JD isn't getting into a law school, but graduating, and around 25% of people drop out of law school cuz law school fucking blows.
That said, while I met many dumb people in law school and many dumb doctors, in general they still absolutely eviscerate the dumbest possible flat earther or whatever.
Doctors or lawyers are not inherently intelligent or wise. But if numerous of the "dumbest people that you have ever met" were doctors (or lawyers) you should get out more, as you will be distressed to learn that people get wildly more idiotic than that. >

In general doctors have seemed pretty good for me.
That said, I have met some that don't listen to their patients very well. I suspect they get so tired of dumb or nutty people ("no vax! no blood transfusions!") that after a while they start not listening and just regurgitating the first most likely diagnosis.
And sometimes they make mistakes. But as they're accustomed to not listening to you, they're also accustomed to not listening to you pointing out a mistake. >

I worked security at a major hospital, always had to help the top doctor’s get their keys out of their locked cars. >

Haha. That’s me! I’m not a doctor. I’m a technician.  A great one. I can troubleshoot like no other. I can find root causes to issues just by looking at data and logs while other technicians will keep replacing the failed part 3-4x before having to send in the whole unit to tech Depot. I also have ADHD, I’m a huge klutz, and at times a gigantic space cadet. Last week I repaired something in 20 minutes that was supposed to take 4 hours. And then in the same afternoon I locked myself out of a secure area because I left my badge in the bathroom. 🤦‍♂️ >

I work at a well respected university in Britain and I am still surprised at the stupidity of some of the academics, even after 7 years. >

I chalk this up to some skills being so specialized that they get hyper focused on it and they have no more cognitive room for anything else.
Also feel that they become very tunnel vision when it comes to diagnostics. Sure they send people out for testing. But they also put themselves in a corner based on how many times they've seen the same issue occur in other people. >

Same goes for Architects, Engineers & Politicians >

I know plenty of people who are so very intelligent when it comes to their passions and so insanely fucking dumb when it comes to like cleaning a bathroom or doing laundry. No ones intelligent in all topics, even highly respected professionals. I mean Ben Carson is a neurosurgeon… great example. >

They just have localised intelligence but most have hubris that their intelligence is broadly applicable rather than the result of persistent application.
I have been a pro poker player for 10+ years and consistently some of the easiest money I have won comes from doctors, lawyers, finance types. >

I have a PhD and can confirm this. You are so specialized in one area I think it takes away from other areas. >

Spend the entirety of your 20’s in school and training. I’m just a student and I went from cooking full meals to takeout and now if I didn’t get lunch at the hospital cafe i chose to starve to death. I completely forgot I could just make a sandwich at home. >

I am a physician myself and in many ways am fairly unimpressed by the thinking of many of my colleagues. I think there are different types of 'intelligence', and it may take a certain type to become a doctor but that doesn't mean someone is a wise sage in other ways.
I have a friend who is a PhD astrophysicist who transitioned at some point into medical research. He was told that one of the worst groups for medical research are former clinical physicians, as they believe what they were taught too much.
I think many physicians are basically highly trained, in some sense like soldiers, but don't always think nearly as clearly about things outside of their training as they might think.
FWIW. >

At urgent care for bronchitis symptoms (pre-Covid):
Doctor1: you’ve tested positive for strep throat, I’m going to prescribe an antibiotic 
Me: but what about my coughing symptoms?
Doctor1: it should treat that too
Narrator: It did not treat that too
A few days later at doctor2, me: I’ve been having trouble coughing and went into urgent care, I tested positive for strep and they put me on an antibiotic but it hasn’t helped
Doctor2: strep doesn’t cause coughing 
Me: I…I know? That’s why I’m here?
Doctor2: take mucinex DM
Me: I’m already taking extra strength mucinex and dextromothorphan doesn’t help my cough symptoms 
Doctor2: I haven’t told you to take dextromothorphan 
Mucinex DM
Doctor 3 finally hooks me up with codeine/phenergan cough syrup and a decadron injection. (Doctor 2 is her husband. I don’t understand their relationship.)
Visit with doctor 3 again during Covid for asthma flare up, nurse: are you experiencing any pain
Me: yeah I have a sore throat 
Nurse with horrified expression: you’re supposed to tell the front desk if you have a sore throat!
Me: it’s from coughing, that’s why I’m here, my doctor is aware of my symptoms, she told me to come in
Nurse: no, it says you’re here for asthma, that doesn’t cause coughing
Asthma
My mom had a similarly fun time even getting my asthma diagnosis when I was 5. She’s a family practice physician herself and doctor after doctor was like “lady you’re daughter just has a cold” before she finally got in with an asthma specialist. So I’m well versed in doctor stupidity. She’s also had to make my dad turn around and take my sister back to urgent care because the doctor there decided my sister’s ankle was sprained without doing an x-ray. Her ankle was definitely broken. 
Also my friend went into the same urgent care with doctor1 about a month later after she accidentally ate cinnamon and was having an allergic reaction. The doctor again decided to give her a strep test and it wound up being positive so I’m very suspicious doctor 1 doesn’t know the difference between the control line and treatment line on the antigen test. >

we truly have to do our own medical research as laymen as well >

A factor that also contributes to this is that I've met many medical professionals who seemed to have cultivated the skills of their career for the social prestige that comes with being a doctor, rather than with the intent of being able to help people with their various maladies. This can result in a less than thorough, almost dismissive approach to how some medical professionals assess the cause behind why their patients are seeking their help. >

So many doctors aren’t even smart at being doctors. Researching meta analysis’s of clinical studies and knowing how to navigate proper and cited (ALWAYS CITED) sites and articles can help you learn more about your own condition and medication more than your doctor. They’ve fucked me many times. Their incompetence and lack of knowledge when you ask them a question you already know the answer to is genuinely depressing. >

Doctors can be indeed and it’s extremely dangerous because they often manipulate patients to believing their stupidity, from anti  vaxx nonsense to just being so out of date, they dismiss actual newer medical illnesses.
I had a bunch of doctors not believe my hip pain for long because they didn’t know. But what made it worse is, they BELIEVED they were right, and not that they didn’t have the knowledge. They believed they were correct and nothing was wrong all bc they didn’t bother keeping up with research.
It’s not surprising many doctors honestly are 20 years behind and chose to stay that way because they are stupid >

I have not found this to be true of medical doctors, but have for other fields >

It's a toss up. I've had PhDs I was concerned would forget to take care of their basic needs, some MDs I was like I trust you with my ears bro but I wouldn't with much else, and then there's PhDs and MD/DO I think could have done what ever they wanted >

My wife is a doctor, she like me grew up as a POC froorm a working class family, many people who go into medicine come from money because you essentially give up 8 years in your 20s having no income, and 4 to 8 years with shit pay in residency. 
The smart doctors I've met are all from poorer or working class families, her colleagues that lack social skills, lack common sense, etc come from families that are wealthier, and parents/aunts /uncles/ cousins are doctors and used nepotism to get into American med school programs and easily get into residency. >

I've argued with doctors over shit more times where they are wrong and never have they ever gone back on their claim and considered my (correct) suggestion. Have to plea with a doctor to get sent to xray for a broken bone or how I was unable to get a referral for physical therapy another time. >

My neighbors parents were both doctors. They let their kids rule the house which was always incredibly messy and filled with the newest gadgets like a soda stream or a fancy potato peeler. It was fun growing up but confusing. The kids were smart too. There were a lot of them. >

As a medical student, I agree haha .
The thing is , there's definitely dumb people in all jobs, but the thing with practising medicine is that usually students and doctors have to devote so much time to it , that they live in that kind of bubble. Yup doctors need to touch grass . >

You know what they call someone who graduated at the bottom of their med school class? They call them Dr. >

Rating your doctors on a curve rather than competency isn't a good look. >

Agreed. I have family members who are doctors and they act like they are God's gift to the earth and they know everything. They are wrong about a lot. >

There is a great misunderstanding of how the medical system works and its failures or limitations are often times blamed on the physicians. 
Emergent labs and imaging are inconclusive, so you were told by your generalist to follow up with a specialist? Those stupid doctors, if only they knew what they were doing…. Your doctor declined to give you opioids for your chronic back pain? Not allowing you to eat while they await the results of a CT scan? If only those arrogant idiots had some empathy… 
The verbal abuse is rampant and makes the job significantly less enjoyable >

A reddit circle jerk where people can knock one of the hardest professions that serves people. They get in hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt, specialize in medicine, spend hours upon hours studying, but because they are not smart in everything people have to knock doctors down to make themselves feel better. >

They probably only do this to make themselves feel better >

I was in route for a medical degree. Left the field because of cost and I couldn't get myself to commit the time for it anymore. I have to 100% agree. I grew up very differently from a lot of my colleagues and I was very aware of their lack of common sense or intelligence outside of school work. It was weird. 
Also, there's a lot of drug use. It's very interesting seeing a buddy of mine conclude his Cardiothoracic Surgery Residency. He was the guy was taking ~~LCD~~ LSD all the damn time. He would fall asleep in alleys, break into shit, and all sort of crazy shit. I havent seen him this year, but he was still doing it last year lol His dealer is now a pediatrician. So much more.
They're human and just as fucked up as all of us! >

Man, he needs to get on that OLED. There are less side effects >

Lmao, I've been telling him for years that he needs to stop licking screens; It's not the same! >

My cousin is massively smart. He’s Oxford university educated and now works as an Ambassador in some country somewhere (don’t ask, I can’t remember). But I do remember when we were younger, we were playing a board game and one of the questions was ‘Spell Chrysanthemum backwards’ immediately he spelled it backwards, without even thinking… perfectly… but, later that weekend, my dad was cleaning out the garage, he gave my cousin a broom and asked him to sweep the garage out. He couldn’t do it, he was completely incapable of operating a tricky piece of equipment like a broom. >

Education takes many forms and there's a first time for everything >

I know dozens of doctors.. I think you're projecting insecurity.  I'm not saying they're the smartest people in the world but they are far from dumb.
My wife is a dentist and she's extremely smart too. >

Exactly. It’s insecurity for sure >

Whenever I hear a comment like this I assume the commenter just doesn’t understand enough about medical science to realize they are in fact the dumb ones
“I disagree with this dr who has an 8 year medical degree… i can’t be wrong since I looked things up on the Internet so they must be wrong” >

I don't think theyrereferring go disagreeing with them medically. They're referring to knowledge outside of medicine. >

The OP says they fail to carry over their text book learnings into real world applications so they’re talking about knowledge relating to medicine >

Good point. I missed that part and was looking at the aspect of not knowing anything outside it. I understand what you're saying. I do understand some peoples frustration, I've known a lot of people that have been given generic advice by doctors and had to constantly chase for them to look into it any further. >

Am Dr. Last time I did an iq test I was genius/gifted level. But this was age 10 and 2 other kids got similar results. So not sure how accurate that was.
I've never come across a dumb Dr.
Lazy, depressed, sub optimal ones yes. But straight up bad or dumb ones.... No. I've met way more doctors than the average person.
You must also remember I interact with the public. Now that is a different story. They are insanely dumb. >

I would expect the public to be a normal distribution of intelligence, not "insanely dumb". >

"Tut Tut, if these doctors really learned something why aren't they able to know this specific piece of knowledge that I know, but is unrelated to their field, hmmmmmm?" >

The difference between book smarts and street smarts is unreal >

Ben Carson comes to mind after reading this… 
He’s probably amazing at what he did/does medically, but the way he would speak on basic concepts and get them so wrong, just baffled my mind. 
I don’t know if it was me or just the way he speaks but it seemed from his speech that he was constantly struggling to string a sentence together or make any compelling answers to basic policy/general knowledge questions.
To be honest, it’s quite impressive that you can be so talented in an area/topic that it severely deprives you in other, seemingly basic, areas/concepts! >

ben carson has entered the chat >

I was argued with my friends husband (who was the doctor) that Coke zero had sweetener in it. He insisted that it didn’t because it was sugar-free. I had to show him the ingredients list with Splenda on it.