Antonio Webb, MD, is proud of his profession and achievements in the medical field, but in social situations, he tends to avoid bringing it up.
Watch the video above or read the following transcript to find out why.
I never tell people when I meet them that I'm a doctor. In this video today, I'm going to tell you guys why.
What's up, everyone? This is Dr. Webb here. Thank you guys for watching this video. Make sure you subscribe. New videos come in every week. You don't want to miss them. When I am out and about -- like at the gym or at the grocery store, at a party, at some event -- I never really tell people that I'm a doctor, and you may ask me, "Hey, you went through all these years of training, four years of college, five years of surgery training, one year of fellowship, four years of medical school, and you don't want to tell people that you're a doctor? What is wrong with you?"
Well, there are a couple of different reasons why I just don't reveal that. I think becoming a doctor is a really good accomplishment. It's very prestigious. There are people that would do anything to become a doctor, and it's a very gratifying profession filled. I enjoy it a lot. I think for #1 the big reason why I just don't tell people that I am a doctor is that people treat you differently as soon as they hear the word doctor. There's been a couple of times when I've been at the gym or been at some event, and people come up to me and they say, "Hey, what do you do?" Generally I usually tell people that, "I'm in the medical field or I work at this particular hospital," but I really don't get too specific with it until they kind of dig deeper and say, "Hey, what do you do in the medical field or what do you do at the hospital there that you work at?"
There's been several times when people had actually come up to me and asked me, "Hey, do you play basketball?" or one time I was at the gym and a guy came up to me and he said, "Hey, you look like you're in sales. What do you do?" I had never seen that guy before. I was just working out and had my headphones on. He just walked up to me. When I told him that I was actually a doctor, his whole attitude, demeanor, the way he came at me and tried to shake my hand... his whole attitude changed. I think, in general, most people, they have perceptions of other people in terms of what their professions are, how they may dress, how they may look, and all these other things, but when you bring up the fact that you're a doctor, people's attitude, their whole demeanor just changes, and this can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on the situation.
There's always this talk of the doctor's prices when you're going places to buy things like at a car lot or buying a home or buying some expensive item. Usually I don't like to disclose my profession. For instance, the other day I went to the Porsche dealership or Porsche -- what some people call it -- and I was just test driving a particular car. I was actually driving home from work and I turned around, drove 20 minutes to my home because I didn't want to go in the dealership with my clothes, my scrubs on that says my name as well as MD at the car dealership. I don't know. It kind of rubs me the wrong way when people's true intentions are not revealed just because they figure out you're some type of professional, whether that's a lawyer, engineer, business owner, famous person, rapper. People's intentions change depending on the situation. I just don't want to go into a dealership and a salesman trying to sell me a car because they think I make a lot of money, so I generally just don't disclose that until it's time to pay cash for that car or sign on the dotted line, and they ask you for your occupation.
The second reason I don't like to disclose that I'm a doctor when I'm out is that people expect you to be perfect, every single word that you say, every sentence that you make, or every question that you answered is really scrutinized. I get lots of comments on my YouTube channel from people making fun of the fact I mispronounce a word or say something differently or say it a different way, different from the way that they would say it. It's quite frustrating when doctors are held to this level of expectation when we're just normal people. Even though I went to school for 13 to 14 years, I still make mistakes. I'm still human. I mispronounce words. I'm late to certain events. I say things that are not true. I try to make up things when I just don't know the answer, and that's a big problem in our healthcare system.
When a patient goes to the doctor and that doctor doesn't know what to do or has never heard of their particular condition, I think it's appropriate for that doctor to say, "Hey, I don't know." I think it ends up hurting the patient as well as the physician when the doctor tries to make it seem like he knows what's going on or knows how to treat a certain condition when he doesn't. There have been many times when I'm out with my friends or a group of colleagues and a question is asked, "Hey, what country was the first country to revolutionize this certain product?" I don't know. They look at me, "Hey, doctor. You're a doctor. You should know this." That's the craziest and most frustrating thing that I get when I'm out. I'd rather not disclose that I'm a doctor, lay low key, and if I know the answer, I know the answer. But there's a lot of things I just don't know.
The third reason why I just don't like to disclose that I'm a doctor is that as soon as people usually hear the word doctor, their next response is, "Hey, I have this knee issue or this hip issue or my niece has this condition that is called some pheochromocytoma histoplasmosis" that I've never heard of and they want to ask me a question about it. Usually on the airplane is when this usually happens. I like to travel a lot, so when I sit next to people, I'm either reading a textbook or reviewing some articles or working on my business or preparing for surgeries, and when someone looks over and they look at some bone or some picture of the spine, their usual next question is, "Hey, what do you do?"
In that situation, I just usually say, "Hey, I just work in the medical field," because their next question is after I say that I'm a doctor is, "Oh, I have a bad knee. I have knee arthritis." I think it's fine to have conversations like that and to give my expert opinion on their particular condition, but there are a lot of times where I just want to turn off work and don't want to talk about anything medically related. When I bring up the fact that I'm a doctor, it usually sparks a conversation about the medical field that I usually don't want to have.
Those are my reasonings why I generally don't mention that I'm a doctor when I'm out. For most of the time, it never really leads to anything good. I don't like to show off or boast or brag or be prideful. I don't like to have conversations when I'm out in public about my profession when I'm just trying to enjoy my social life. When people hear that you're a doctor, they expect you to know everything about history, trigonometry, calculus, physics, world history, politics, and it's really frustrating when you're held to this level of expectation when you're solely just trying to be human and trying to be yourself.
What are your experiences with mentioning that you're a doctor or whatever profession that you're in when you're out? Do you do it? I would love to hear from you. This is Dr. Webb. Thank you guys for watching this video. Make sure you subscribe. New videos come in every week. We'll see you next time.
, is an orthopedic resident surgeon in San Antonio as well as an author and motivational speaker who has a passion for helping others. He is the author of and hosts a .