[linuxftw]

> Yes. If a doctor is working in a hospital, there are most certainly managers.

Maybe some places. In the US, most doctors are independent providers for hospitals, they don't have a traditional 'manager'. Outside of a hospital setting, this is also true.

> This is not simply "admin work". This is critical, life saving stuff

It may be, but it's lower skill work delegated to people that are subordinate to doctors, not their managers.

[aniforprez]

> In the US, most doctors are independent providers for hospitals, they don't have a traditional 'manager'

You are putting a round peg in a square hole. As I already stated, these are not the kind of managers we see in development where your manager is your "boss". Even as independent providers, doctors will have someone they are interfacing with who will see to the admin and other work so they are focused on medicine. Less than half of all practicing doctors in hospitals in the US are independent. Most of them are employed by the hospital. You are grievously misunderstanding the role of the "manager" here. There are certainly far fewer managers in independently practicing medical facilities like clinics but that's because the volume is far lower and the doctors themselves wear many hats

> but it's lower skill work delegated to people that are subordinate to doctors

Again, this is very insulting to the people working these roles. They are not "subordinate" and the work in not "low skill". These are parallel roles to doctors. Leaving this kind of work to doctors would result in a failure of the medical profession in its entirety because of the sheer volume and sensitivity of it

[linuxftw]

> As I already stated, these are not the kind of managers we see in development where your manager is your "boss".

We're talking about the kind of managers software engineers have. Doctors don't have those kind of managers, that's entirely my point.

> Again, this is very insulting to the people working these roles. They are not "subordinate".

They are definitely subordinate in any patient-care scenario. Anyway, I feel like you're missing the point of the analogy, analogies aren't perfect, and you know well what I meant.

If you want to argue lawyers and doctors have managers, fine, give engineers that kind of a manager. IMO, these are subordinate clerical people.

[aniforprez]

You are simply refusing to accept the fact that doctors have managers and are simply labelling it "clerical". It is in no way simply clerical at all. These are people they report to regularly, who help manage their schedules, help with career growth, set priorities and targets, interface with upper management to avoid cruft coming down, dispel distractions to force their focus on what matters and so on. I will strongly state once again that this is in no way, shape, or form "secretarial". Often times, for junior doctors, they are most definitely superiors. The reason for the change in power balance from engineering organisations is because doctors have the significantly more challenging aspect that they are dealing with human lives so managers tend to stay out of their way more but their role is not diminished

Your analogy is bad only because you have no idea what you're talking about. Technical people need managers because technical people will do things other than their actual jobs and I say this very frankly as a developer. It is remarkable how similar doctors and engineers can be in that they are lost if left to their own devices. Just as an experienced engineer will wear many hats and can manage themselves, experienced doctors also successfully set up their own practices where they can manage themselves. But a good hospital manager can literally save and change lives