Do Chicks Dig Doctors?

Do women find you more attractive because you have an MD?

(Hard to tell, since all women swoon in the presence of Doctor D's masculine charisma even when he isn't wearing a white coat.)

Actually though, if you go into medicine because you are looking for a sexy and glamorous life you'll likely be disappointed...

Everybody reads House Of God or watches TV medical dramas and assumes that medical folks do nothing but save lives, kick ass, and fornicate like rockstars.

Millions of bright young people sign up for medical school every year certain the opposite sex will find them irresistible with MD behind their names.

"Irresistible? You know I am! ...and I totally just banged these hot nurses."

What they find instead is exhausting, banal work that destroys personal time, and patients too sick and coworkers too beleaguered to even consider romance.

But to answer the question:

"Yes, there are women who might find a man with an MD more attractive, but it is not as cool as you might imagine."

(Sorry Dr. D can only answer from the male perspective. Perhaps a woman can tell the story of the female MD's love life in the comments?)

The Social Life

If you go around in your private life saying "Hey, nice to meet you. I'm a doctor!" the ladies will think you are trying too hard. And trying too hard is not cool.

And once people realize you are a doctor they still really won't care. Generations ago being a doctor may have meant something. Perhaps back in the day when a physician entered the room everyone was struck with reverent awe, but these days nobody really cares. Being a doctor means you might be intelligent, but you're also overworked and up to the eyeballs in student loan debt. Not so sexy!

Seducing the Silly Ones

The only place where being a doctor means much is in hospitals and clinics. In the medical environment the MD means something, and there's nothing women find more attractive than a guy who is in charge. But think about it: are intelligent, interesting women in the hospital going to be lead astray by silly teenie-bopper fantasies in which the a doctor replaces the handsome prince? Nope, only the ditsy or creepy chicks!

I don't know about you, but Doctor D isn't into silly women.

So it is a rare occurrence when a woman that you would actually be interested in is attracted to you because you are a doc. But it does happen...

The Femme Fatale:

There was once a beautiful and intelligent patient who had visited Doctor D several times. Then one day she came to D's office with a hurt knee. Doctor D was dutifully examining the knee when he couldn't help but notice that not only was this attractive patient wearing a short skirt, but she also was lacking underwear!

Now in other situations obvious signals that a beautiful person has the hots for me is at least flattering, but not at work.

Doctor D stood up, said "Excuse me," and walked out. He brought a nurse in to chaperone, and for the rest of the exam kept his eyes nowhere but the knee. The patient never returned.

Sorry to disappoint you, beautiful ladies, but at work Doctor D keeps it strictly professional!

Keeping It Professional

Apparently in years past there was a more lax attitude toward frisky behavior in the hospital. Older nurses tell stories about the 70's in which the entire hospital seems to have been one big orgy with doctors, nurses, and patients going at it like bunny rabbits. (It's hard to tell if these reports are true or just the sentimental musings of soon-to-be-senile baby boomers.)

"McDreamy, I'm just too busy with romantic entanglements to see patients right now."

Despite what you may presume from watching Grey's Anatomy such funny business is no longer tolerated in hospitals. With political correctness, sexual harassment, and lawyers circling like sharks there isn't any room for behavior that isn't totally professional.

The doctors and nurses of today may be more laid back than those of the generation before us, but when it comes to mixing business and pleasure we are downright puritanical.

So, attention to all lusty young premeds:

Becoming a doctor will not get you laid! And if it does get you laid, you might ruin your career and lose your medical license in the process.

If you want to live like a rockstar, you should probably join a band.

But don't lose hope. You can still have an exciting love life. It's just that the MD won't help.

D met the stunningly beautiful future Lady D when he was in medical school. First thing she said when she found out what he did, "Ugh, I hate doctors!"

D responded, "Really? Me too! Too bad I'm about to be one of them."

I won her despite the MD. How you like them apples!

Feel free to tell your stories and opinions in the comments.

Doctor D can't wait to hear the heart-wrenching drama of your experiences in the odd world of medical romance!

The Medical Life (Friday Links)

The blogs of health workers can be a fascinating peak into the minds and motivations of those of us in medical life. I enjoy the funny or amazing true stories on blogs as much as the next guy, but what's really interesting to me are the lives of people who choose to work with sickness and suffering every day.

Judging by the number of TV shows on us it appears that the public at large is fascinated with medical students, nurses, and doctors too. Truth be told, we aren't as good looking, dramatic, or perfect as our TV counterparts. We are normal people, but personally I prefer real people over stock characters with stethoscopes.

One of my favorite nurse bloggers, Maha, used the turn of the decade to tell the fascinating and personal story of her life over the last 10 years. Her personal growth during her journey to become an ER nurse is very interesting reading. Behind the sharp wit and toughness there is a humanity and sensitivity that makes her blog one of the best out there.

I found another glimpse into the personal motivations for a medical life over at Asystole Is The Most Stable Rhythm. Besides having the coolest blog name ever AlbinoBlackBear has some great stories. Her encounter with a dying child years ago as a nurse left her wondering if healthcare was a good choice for her. The answer was yes and now she is in medical school. Asystole is a wonderful med student blog and I can't believe it took me this long to find it.

So what leads people to choose a medical life?

Ella the med student and Old Girl both followed Maha's lead and posted their own biographies of 2000 to 2010. Doctor D shall follow in the footsteps of these great bloggers and give you a brief picture of how he has transformed over the last decade:

At the dawn of 2000 young D was a college senior applying for medical school. He was a bold, iconoclastic idealist who was certain he would save the world. Young D wore a long beard with long hair and was certain that human suffering was a puzzle that could be fixed if people just cared enough to help others. He figured that medicine was the highest and purest calling a person could choose for their life.

Then came reality: years of medical school, followed by years of residency, followed by the ultimate goal—being a "real doctor."

After a decade of ceaseless work I no longer think I am going to save the world. I have saved a few lives, but it was by doing my job not through any heroism. Jesus may save the world, but doctors and nurses certainly won't. We simply do our jobs day in and day out.

In the end, the medical life is a life like any other. It isn't always fun or sexy. We are not so brilliant or so heroic. We are humans who take care of humans, so our work is fraught all those troublesome human complications. Some days we love our vocation and some days we want to quit, but we do our best because we care about our patients.

In 2010 Doctor D is more tired and less idealistic. These days D is more more proud to be Ms. D's husband and Little D's dad than he is about that MD he spent so many years dreaming about.

What do you think? Did you imagine doctor's lives to be more heroic and dramatic? Do you work in healthcare and have a story about your own medical life to share? Doctor D always enjoys the perspectives and stories you tell in the comments.