History Main / MDEnvy

* Doctors of psychology (between four and ten years of studying nothing but the human brain and human behavior) really, ''really'' hate psychiatrists ([=MD=]s who study psychology for a few years after graduating). The former believe the latter are completely incompetent in their field and good only for prescribing drugs; the latter believe the former are for poor patients only, and sometimes that psychology as a non-medical discipline should be abolished, despite nearly every major breakthrough and development in the field coming from psychologists. Psychologists don't hate psychiatrists per se, but it's more that they hate the fact that they go to school just as long but get very little respect in comparison and make 3 times less in income. Psychologists are even currently being run out of their own field by social workers (cheaper) and psychiatric nurse practitioners (can prescribe meds). Physician assistants can work in psychiatry with '''zero''' amount of psychology background and make twice what a psychologist makes. Really psychologists have a right to hate the entire medical field in general.

* Veterinary nurses are not aspiring or failed veterinarians. It's an entirely different profession from veterinary medicine, since it's the nurses who run the labs, restrain the patients, handle all the bodily fluids, give the injections, insert tubes, control anaesthesia, set up [=IVs=] and report symptoms, lab test values and radiology results to the doctor.

* TruthInTelevision, sadly. MD vs. DO is probably the most common, but other popular variants include surgeons vs. physicians, surgeons vs. anesthesiologists, and surgeons vs. surgeons (cardiothoracic vs. transplant, plastic vs. ophthalmic, etc)... It's probably less "MD Envy" and more "FACS Envy".

* Doctors of psychology (between four and ten years of studying nothing but the human brain and human behavior) really, ''really'' hate psychiatrists ([=MD=]s who study psychology for one or two years.) The former believes the latter are completely incompetent in their field and good only for prescribing drugs; the latter believes the former are for poor patients only, and sometimes that psychology as a non-medicinal discipline should be abolished, despite nearly every major breakthrough and development in the field coming from psychologists. Psychologists don't hate psychiatrists per se, but it's more that they hate the fact that they go to school just as long but get very little respect in comparison and make 3 times less in income. Psychologists are even currently being run out of their own field by social workers (cheaper) and Psych Nurse Practitioners (can prescribe meds). Physician Assistants can work in psychiatry with '''zero''' amount of psychology background and make twice what a psychologist makes. Really psychologists have a right to hate the entire medical field in general.

* Pick a veterinary nurse. Ask them, "Oh, so when are you going to become a veterinarian?" Run away very quickly. Veterinary nursing, it must be emphasized, is an entirely different profession from veterinary medicine, since it's the nurses who run the labs, the nurses who restrain the patients, the nurses who handle all the bodily fluids, the nurses who give the injections and insert tubes and control anaesthesia and set up [=IVs=] and the nurses who report symptoms, lab test values and radiology results to the doctor. They are ''not'' "just people who are too stupid to become vets".

** Adding to the rancor is the neverending debate over whether psychologists should be allowed to prescribe medication ('''only''' for mental disorders, mind you, and '''only''' after extensive training in pharmacology). Some psychologists think this would help address the widespread shortage of psychiatrists, which means people often end up going to their [=GPs=] instead, who do not specialize in treating psychiatric illnesses and are rather quick to hand out Zoloft like candy. Other psychologists think this might be a bad idea as once more psychologists have the option of medication they'll become reliant on it and traditional psychological therapy will fall by the wayside. Many psychiatrists, on the other hand, dislike the idea of having to share their hard-earned privileges with a bunch of [=PhDs=] ([[NotThatKindOfDoctor not MDs]]) who didn't go to medical school. It's complicated.

* Sarah from ''QuiteUglyOneMorning'' is an anesthetist, and has several rants in the book about arrogant surgeons, and people who are surprised to learn that one needs to be a doctor to practice anesthesia.

** Averted in the BottleEpisode "Secrets And Lies", where a nurse reveals she originally studied to be an MD but then switched to nursing so she could spend more time with each patient. She even lampshades the trope and claims that not all nurses have MD Envy.
** And then the character becomes a doctor anyway a couple of seasons later.
** Also averted with Carol Hathaway in Season 3. Hathaway spent several episodes considering getting a medical degree, but ultimately decided she preferred being a nurse.
** {{Jerkass}} Romano insist on operating on his dog himself. When asked why he didn't take her to a veterinarian, he snaps, "You think I'd trust my dog with some idiot who couldn't get into ''real'' medical school?!" Another scene has him saying, "If I wanted a nurse's opinion, I'd. . .actually, I don't know what I'd do, because that's never happened. Throughout his time on the show, it's obvious he holds little regard for anyone who not only isn't in the medical profession, but isn't a surgeon like himself.

** Another episode features Jerry dating a dermatologist, with him claiming the whole profession is "just put some aloe on it" and referring to her as "pimple-popper MD". It backfires on him big time when he learns that dermatologists also treat skin cancer. For the record, she was also insufferable about her career and spent a whole dinner date talking about how great it felt to save lives for a living.

* ''OutOfPractice'' was a short lived sitcom about a family where everyone was a doctor except for the youngest son, Ben, who was a relationship counselor (although he may have had a psychiatric doctorate, I can't recall). He always had a slight complex about this, although his other relatives always stressed that he was doing important work. Of course, his brother Oliver was a plastic surgeon, which, while an important profession, isn't generally thought of as being a "proper" doctor either--ironically, they spend almost as much time in residency/training As ''neurosurgeons'', probably the most revered specialty of all.

* This is a frequent occurance on GreysAnatomy. Surgery is considered the best specialty. Cristina even says it's the "marines" of specialties in the first episode. The doctors look down on nurses, and everyone looks down on interns (especially the second batch). The surgeons themselves sometimes divide into their specialties even further, with Cardio and Neural at the top and Orthopedic and General at the bottom.

** Adding to the rancor is the neverending debate over whether psychologists should be allowed to prescribe medication ('''only''' for mental disorders, mind you, and '''only''' after extensive training in pharmacology). Some psychologists think this would help address the widespread shortage of psychiatrists, which means people often end up going to their [=GPs=] instead, who do not specialize in treating psychiatric illnesses and are rather quick to hand out Zoloft like candy. Many psychiatrists, on the other hand, dislike the idea of having to share their hard-earned privileges with a bunch of [=PhDs=] ([[NotThatKindOfDoctor not MDs]]) who didn't go to medical school. It's complicated.

* ''OutOfPractice'' was a short lived sitcom about a family where everyone was a doctor except for the youngest son, Ben, who was a relationship counselor (although he may have had a psychiatric doctorate, I can't recall). He always had a slight complex about this, although his other relatives always stressed that he was doing important work. Of course, his brother Oliver was a plastic surgeon, which, while an important profession, isn't generally thought of as being a "proper" doctor either.

->''"If physicians tend to be upper-middle-class, dentists are gloomily aware that they're middle, and are said to experience frightful status anxieties when introduced socially to 'physicians'--as dentists like to call them. (Physicians call themselves 'doctors', and enjoy doing this in front of dentists, as well as college professors, chiropractors, and divines.)"''

In comedies, the high status attached to physicians is always shown to loom large over those who come close to, but do not attain the sacred mantle... such as other health professionals, doctors in non-medical fields, and sometimes even medical doctors whose specialty is perceived as less challenging or useful than others. Similarly, a nurse has a different set of skills than a doctor (even a "male nurse", but don't use that term because it's kind of offensive) and they don't like to be confused for one.

In comedies, the high status attached to physicians is always shown to loom large over those who come close to, but do not attain the sacred mantle -- such as other health professionals, doctors in non-medical fields, and sometimes even medical doctors whose specialty is perceived as less challenging or useful than others. Similarly, a nurse has a different set of skills than a doctor (even a "male nurse", but don't use that term because it's kind of offensive) and they don't like to be confused for one.

In comedies, the high status attached to physicians is always shown to loom large over those who come close to, but do not attain the sacred mantle - such as other health professionals, doctors in non-medical fields, and sometimes even medical doctors whose specialty is perceived as less challenging or useful than others. Similarly, a nurse has a different set of skills than a doctor (even a "male nurse", but don't use that term because it's kind of offensive) and they don't like to be confused for one.

->''"If physicians tend to be upper-middle-class, dentists are gloomily aware that they're middle, and are said to experience frightful status anxieties when introduced socially to "physicians"--as dentists like to call them. (Physicians call themselves 'doctors', and enjoy doing this in front of dentists, as well as college professors, chiropractors, and divines.)"''

->''If physicians tend to be upper-middle-class, dentists are gloomily aware that they're middle, and are said to experience frightful status anxieties when introduced socially to "physicians"--as dentists like to call them. (Physicians call themselves ''doctors'', and enjoy doing this in front of dentists, as well as college professors, chiropractors, and divines.)''

* Nurses versus doctors, particularly those in critical-care specialties (Intensive Care, Emergency, etc) and those with advanced-practice certifications (nurse practitioner, nurse midwife, nurse anesthetist). If you ever want to get your ass kicked, go ask an RN "If you're so smart, how come you aren't a doctor?" Nurses do 95% of the patient care tasks and handle all the medications in any given care setting, and have to be competent enough to keep track of everything that's going on with any given patient and be able to intervene rapidly when a patient's condition deteriorates.

* There are a lot of friction between doctors and the Ambulance crew in {{Sirens}}, there were really quite shocked when a doctor thanked them and said they did a good job. In another episode two of the lads attempt to hit on a medical student that says they're nothing but glorified taxi drivers.

See also NotThatKindOfDoctor.

* Doctors of psychology (between four and ten years of studying nothing but the human brain and human behavior) really, ''really'' hate psychiatrists ([=MD=]s who study psychology for one or two years.) The former believes the latter are completely incompetent in their field and good only for prescribing drugs; the latter believes the former are for poor patients only, and sometimes that psychology as a non-medicinal discipline should be abolished, despite nearly every major breakthrough and development in the field coming from psychologists. Psychologists don't hate psychiatrists per se, but it's more that they hate the fact that they go to school just as long but get very little respect in comparison and make 3 times less in income. Psychologists are even currently being run out of their own field by social workers (cheaper) and Psych Nurse Practitioners (can prescribe meds). Physician Assistants can work in psychiatry with ZERO amount of psychology background and make twice what a psychologist makes. Really psychologists have a right to hate the entire medical field in general.
** Adding to the rancor is the neverending debate over whether psychologists should be allowed to prescribe medication ('''only''' for mental disorders, mind you, and '''only''' after extensive training in pharmacology). Some psychologists think this would help address the widespread shortage of psychiatrists, which means people often end up going to their GPs instead, who do not specialize in treating psychiatric illnesses and are rather quick to hand out Zoloft like candy. Many psychiatrists, on the other hand, dislike the idea of having to share their hard-earned privileges with a bunch of PhDs ([[NotThatKindOfDoctor not MDs]]) who didn't go to medical school. It's complicated.

* There's a DoubleStandard going on. Since nursing is even now seen as a woman's job, people tend to assume that female nurses are nurses because they want to be and male nurses are nurses because they weren't smart enough to be doctors.
* Patiets are sometimes insensitive to medical students. Since the stereotype is that women go into nursing and men go into medicine, some female medical students will still be asked when they will be done with nursing school, or why they are interested in nursing, while their male counterparts are standing right there (and everyone is in white coats). It wouldn't be so bad if the patients hadn't already asked the male students what fields of medicine they were going to pursue.

->If physicians tend to be upper-middle-class, dentists are gloomily aware that they're middle, and are said to experience frightful status anxieties when introduced socially to "physicians"--as dentists like to call them. (Physicians call themselves ''doctors'', and enjoy doing this in front of dentists, as well as college professors, chiropractors, and divines.)''

->''"If physicians tend to be upper-middle-class, dentists are gloomily aware that they're middle, and are said to experience frightful status anxieties when introduced socially to 'physicians'--as dentists like to call them. (Physicians call themselves ''doctors'', and enjoy doing this in front of dentists, as well as college professors, chiropractors, and divines.)"''

* Doctors of psychology (between four and ten years of studying nothing but the human brain and human behavior) really, ''really'' hate psychiatrists ([=MD=]s who study psychology for one or two years.) The former believes the latter are completely incompetent in their field and good only for prescribing drugs; the latter believes the former are for poor patients only, and sometimes that psychology as a non-medicinal discipline should be abolished, despite nearly every major breakthrough and development in the field coming from psychologists. Psychologists don't hate psychiatrists per say, but it's more that they hate the fact that they go to school just as long but get very little respect in comparison and make 3 times less in income. Psychologists are even currently being run out of their own field by social workers (cheaper) and Psych Nurse Practitioners (can prescribe meds). Physician Assistants can work in psychiatry with ZERO amount of psychology background and make twice what a psychologist makes. Really psychologists have a right to hate the entire medical field in general.

* In ''MeetTheParents'' Greg has no shame or inferiority complex about being a male nurse, but is constantly asked by his fiancée's family why he didn't want to go all the way and become a doctor. Several of them are doctors.
** In fact, they all assume he flunked out of being a doctor, and they need to see a copy of his transcript before they'll believe he actually got top marks and preferred to be a nurse to get more time with patients (And even then, Jack, the patriarch, isn't entirely convinced).

* Speaking of the MD vs DO debate, the movie ''AlienApocalypse'' has Bruce Campbell as a DO who saves the world from alien conquest using the power of osteopathy and pointed sticks. He continually complains about no one takes him seriously because he's a DO.
* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in ''Film/{{Star Trek IV|TheVoyageHome}}'': When Dr. [=McCoy=] starts to diagnose Chekov's condition, the other MD in the room [[DeadpanSnarker snarks]]: "What's your degree in? [[NotThatKindOfDoctor Dentistry?]]" Of course [=McCoy=], practicing incredibly more advanced medicine from the 23rd century thinks they're butchers, extorting them to "put away their butcher knives," then goes on to effortlessly cure Chekov and a nearby woman undergoing dialysis.

-->'''Petra''': Oh, yes, I forgot, we trust your fellow conspirators to see all and miss nothing, because, after all, ''they'' aren't psychiatrists.\\
'''The Psychologist''': I'm a psychologist.\\
'''Petra''': Ouch. That must have hurt, to admit you're only half-educated.

* 'Series/{{Bones}}'':
** In one episode, Temprance thanked a chiropractor for his help but couldn't help noting that he wasn't a "real medical doctor". As she left he pointed out that she isn't a medical doctor either (she's an anthropologist).

* ''{{Scrubs}}'' examples:

** Also, Turk and J.D. are [[StarCrossedLovers Star Crossed]] HeterosexualLifePartners, having crossed the divide between physicians and surgeons, neither of whom consider the other group to be real doctors.
** And in one episode where Dr. Cox has to call the hospital dermatologist, he rants to the patient:
--->'''Dr. Cox''': Do you see what you've made me do? By once again choosing to spend all of your free time out on the surface of the sun until melanoma has developed, you have forced me to pull the attending dermatologist away from his bacne seminar and validate his most ridiculous of career choices.
** And in the episode "My Quarantine":
--->'''Dr. Cox''': Otherwise, let's bear in mind that we are short-handed. There are only four doctors here.\\
'''Turk''': I counted more than that.\\
'''Dr. Cox''': I'm talking legitimate doctors, turtle head. Here, Pee-Pants is a pathologist, so he doesn't count. Johnson is a dermatologist, which is Greek for "fake doctor," and please don't even get me started on you four surgeons.\\
'''Todd''': There's only two of us.\\
'''Dr. Cox''': You are so very useless, I counted you both twice.

--->'''Elliot''': Wow! I can't imagine picking psychiatry as a specialty after interning as a real doctor.

* Alan from ''{{Two and a Half Men}}'' is often belittled for being a chiropractor and not a "real" doctor.
* Averted in the BottleEpisode "Secrets And Lies" of ''{{ER}}'', where a nurse reveals she originally studied to be an MD but then switched to nursing so she could spend more time with each patient. She even lampshades the trope and claims that not all nurses have MDEnvy.

* ''{{Seinfeld}}'' - Elaine dates an intern who's repeatedly failed his medical licensing exam. She insists on calling him "doctor" anyway so she can say she's dating a doctor. Later on, Elaine even helps him study for the exam to make him an actual doctor only for him to pass and dump her immediately afterward, under the rationale that as a doctor, he deserves better.

* In one episode of ''{{Bones}}'' Temprance thanked a chiropractor for his help but couldn't help noting that he wasn't a "real medical doctor". As she left he pointed out that she isn't a medical doctor either (she's an anthropologist).

* In KingOfTheHill, after Bill falls into a diabetic coma, he's treated by a DrJerk who tells him he's doomed to lose the use of both his legs from diabetes and that no amount of exercise or dieting will help since he's too fat and lazy to follow through with them. When a nurse suggests the name of a trainer who could help, he snarks, "You know what I learned in Medical School? Oh, right, you weren't there."

* TruthInTelevision, sadly. MD vs. DO is probably the most common, but other popular variants include surgeons vs. physicians, surgeons vs. anesthesiologists, and surgeons vs. surgeons (cardiothoracic vs. transplant, plastic vs. ophthalmic, etc)... now that I think about it, it's probably less "MD Envy" and more "FACS Envy."
** There's much less of a rivalry nowadays as the training and practice of [=MD=]s and [=DO=]s have become almost identical. For all practical purposes, the two degrees are interchangeable (at least in the US and most of Canada). In fact, some [=DO=]s are concerned they're losing their separate identity.
** Doctors of psychology (between four and ten years of studying nothing but the human brain and human behavior) really, ''really'' hate psychiatrists ([=MD=]s who study psychology for one or two years.) The former believes the latter are completely incompetent in their field and good only for prescribing drugs; the latter believes the former are for poor patients only, and sometimes that psychology as a non-medicinal discipline should be abolished, despite nearly every major breakthrough and development in the field coming from psychologists.
* Psychologists don't hate psychiatrists per say, but it's more that they hate the fact that they go to school just as long but get very little respect in comparison and make 3 times less in income. Psychologists are even currently being run out of their own field by social workers (cheaper) and Psych Nurse Practitioners (can prescribe meds). Also Physician Assistants can work in psychiatry with ZERO amount of psychology background and make twice what a psychologist makes...Really psychologists have a right to hate the entire medical field in general...

* Pick a veterinary nurse. Ask them, "Oh, so when are you going to become a veterinarian?" Run away very quickly. Veterinary nursing, it must be emphasized, is an entirely different profession from veterinary medicine, since it's the nurses who run the labs, the nurses who restrain the patients, the nurses who handle all the bodily fluids, the nurses who give the injections and insert tubes and control anaesthesia and set up [=IVs=] and the nurses who report symptoms, lab test values and radiology results to the doctor. They are ''not'' "just people who are too stupid to become vets."
** This goes for human nurses as well, particularly those in critical-care specialties (Intensive Care, Emergency, etc) and those with advanced-practice certifications (nurse practitioner, nurse midwife, nurse anesthetist). If you ever want to get your ass kicked, go ask an RN "If you're so smart, how come you aren't a doctor?" As above, nurses do 95% of the patient care tasks and handle all the medications in any given care setting, and have to be competent enough to keep track of everything that's going on with any given patient and be able to intervene rapidly when a patient's condition deteriorates.
*** There's a DoubleStandard going on with this as well. Since nursing is even now seen as a woman's job, people tend to assume that female nurses are nurses because they want to be and male nurses are nurses because they weren't smart enough to be doctors.
**** It can get even worse. Since the stereotype is that women go into nursing and men go into medicine, some female medical students will still be asked when they will be done with nursing school, or why they are interested in nursing, while their male counterparts are standing right there (and everyone is in white coats). It wouldn't be so bad if the patients hadn't already asked the male students what fields of medicine they were going to pursue...
** Want to see something hilarious? Go ask a veterinarian/doctor[[note]]with qualified staff; a vet or doctor who doesn't work with licensed nurses will know how to do these things because they have to, as will ER docs because if the nurse is busy, it's do it or lose the patient[[/note]] to draw blood/place an IV catheter/*insert technical nursing skill here* and watch them stammer about how they haven't done that since they were in school. Then watch the exasperated nurse whip the Vacutainer/syringe/whatever out of said doctor/vet's hand and place the thing in two seconds flat.