OK
1- most doctors don't own the hospital
2- doctor probably doesn't own even the table that will be used. some do but most don't.
3- The flight controls are my operating instruments.
With the exception of ER and hospitalists, most doctors don't work exclusively at a hospital. The rest of them own, staff, outfit, and insure office space in the buildings around the hospital. Trust me, it ain't cheap. Wait, you do own your own flight kit though. Did you do it through payroll deduction, 25 bones a week?
4- If/when I make a mistake and it's critical 100+ people die.
5- Alot of pilots self insure through aopa alpa or what ever.
6- Semi anual checkrides that are carreer critical... doctor?
I could probably go on.
Same with the metro rail driver. Self insure for what? Does it cost you $50-80K a year to do so? Doctors do have peer review and law suits. Both of those will run the bad ones out of the profession. Are your flights reviewed on a weekly basis by your peers and judgment passed on your decision making and outcome? Would you like to work in an environment where every flight you have people sizing up an angle to sue you personally, not just the company you work for?
??Would you go under the knife of a surgeon who only had say 100hrs of school, or on the job training? What if you knew that he was on food stamps trying to make it to the next best paying job because it's the only way to make the "experience" to be a "real" doctor?
No I wouldn't. However, if you have ever been to a "teaching hospital" with a residency program, you might have been treated by a doc like that. 80 plus hour work weeks, up 36-48 hours at a time working continuously. Anywhere from 4-8 years. All for 35-40k a year. (Heck, we start to tear up if we have to be on duty for 16 hours, and work for 8 of those). Don't worry though, there is an attending doctor (the captain) who is overseeing the residents from their pager. All this to gain experience to finish residency, go into private practice, and become board certified. I could probably go on.
Are you willing to get into the tub of aluminum throttling along at hundreds of knots in sub zero temperatures with someone who knows just enough.
Those of us with the experience and time in this job deserve better. The profession deserves better.
We are worth as much if not more than doctors. After 6000 flight hours and 12+ years in the cockpit I am worth every penny, and my passengers will get to the destination safely.
You sir are wrong.[/QUOTE
Like I said, I'm all for making a better living, but the barriers to entry as a pilot are so low that it is tough. I just find it amusing that we try to compare ourselves to doctors. I do value experience and when I travel, I try to stay on the mainline flights. Thanks for standing up for us, just try to find a closer example than a doc.
P.S. For God's sake man, use spell check. You aren't helping your cause.
