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deep_sea2 t1_j272o8k wrote

Reply to comment by msmsms101 in ELI5: Why are medical doctors commonly referred to as "doctors" over other types of doctors? by whatwouldultralorddo

There are about three time as many PhDs than MDs in the USA. About 3 million to 1 million.

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msmsms101 t1_j272q0s wrote

I stand corrected then. Thank you

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deep_sea2 t1_j272t69 wrote

To be fair, I thought you were right, but I was curious so looked it up.

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dimonium_anonimo t1_j273uh5 wrote

I wonder how it stacks up if you group them. Like, I don't know what would be an equivalent tier group as "medical" but maybe literary, theoretical sciences, something like that. If you could come up with an equivalent group, does medical have the most doctors per group? If it's 3:1 and there are more than 4 such groups, then it would stand to reason...

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deep_sea2 t1_j274igq wrote

Yeah, you could subdivide the PhD group in any way you want, and that would surely reduce their numbers. Then again, if you do that, then you could include lawyers (Juris Doctor) and that number would go up again.

In the USA, there are maybe a couple hundred thousand more JDs than MDs.

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