[MrMatters]

A more interesting comparison if you're going to use medicine, IMO, is how it's the exact opposite for surgeons compared to doctors. If you believe The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies, and Serial Killers Can Teach Us About Success by Kevin Dutton (which is the basis of this HuffPo article):

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-barker/which-professions-...

It makes sense because doctors require a high level of empathy whereas surgeons need to be better under pressure, be able to hold longer focus, etc. which are qualities of psychopaths.

[roc]

How much of that can we ascribe to turnover though?

Is it people who go into surgery care less? Or only people who care less can handle a career in surgery, where you typically have no bond to the patient, see many more people die (potentially due your own limitations or outright mistakes) and even when they live, you may see them for a follow-up exam or two, but not really ever again?

There seems to be huge down-sides for an empathic surgeon and very little emotional up-side.

[sliverstorm]

Bang. This guy hit all the points I was going to make.

[Turing_Machine]

Also, surgeons need to be able to cut people open without freaking out, possibly even enjoying it.