Ideal height for physicians?

[searun]

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I was reading an article today that said that men who were taller than average had significantly higher incomes in the business and legal professions. Do you think that this applies to the medical profession? Why or why not? Does this also apply to women - does being tall confer the same advantage on women as it apparently does on men in business and law - and would this apply to women in medicine. Obviously, this is because of subjective perception issues that have nothing to do with competence or intellectual ability but tall men apparently have an advantage in the business world. Do male doctors have an edge if they are tall? What is the ideal height for a man who is a physician? 6"0, 6'2, 6"4, or 6'6 or ? Or is this irrelevant. For the record, I am 6'2. Is being short a disadvantage?

 

[crimsonkid85]

this is the funniest question ever. 😛

 

[TheRealDrDorian]

This is one of those posts I initially thought was pretty dumb.

And I still think it is...

But, if you're too short or too tall, you'll be at a disadvantage as a surgeon I would guess.

But if you're too short, you can always stand on outdated physician's reference books. :0)

 

[Packamylase]

I was reading an article today that said that men who were taller than average had significantly higher incomes in the business and legal professions. Do you think that this applies to the medical profession? Why or why not? Does this also apply to women - does being tall confer the same advantage on women as it apparently does on men in business and law - and would this apply to women in medicine. Obviously, this is because of subjective perception issues that have nothing to do with competence or intellectual ability but tall men apparently have an advantage in the business world. Do male doctors have an edge if they are tall? What is the ideal height for a man who is a physician? 6"0, 6'2, 6"4, or 6'6 or ? Or is this irrelevant. For the record, I am 6'2. Is being short a disadvantage?

By the way, 6'2" is NOT short. However, I'm 6'4".

Secondly, I think the advantages of being tall and making more money might only apply to business and law. I don't see how that would make much difference in the medical world.

 

[Nasrudin]

It depends on the doc's ups. For example I'm 6'5'' but I can only grab the rim. I thinks its much more important for a doc to be able to power dunk in a game situation than anything else.

 

[sgglaze]

It probably applies to medicine as well.

 

[LolaGene]

I think your height comes into play in terms of judgements your colleagues and patient make about you, which can influence opportunities. But i've met/ known of very short doctors who are fantastic. I'm under 5ft, by the way, but also a woman

 

[12loser12]

It depends on the doc's ups. For example I'm 6'5'' but I can only grab the rim. I thinks its much more important for a doc to be able to power dunk in a game situation than anything else.

Which is exactly why the average URM is 4 inches of height shorter than the average height of matriculating whites and asians. They simply have the ups.

(PS don't let this turn into a flame war, it's just in fun)

 

[tdkneo]

this is so dumb and pointless........

 

[BlackScorpion]

You also have to take account lateral mobility, speed, and quickness...

All kidding aside, I have heard of some orthopedic surgery residency programs with a 240 step 1/6'2"/225 bench cutoff. In their interviews, shirts and shoes are optional. I think it was a program in LA or something...

 

[Ari Gold]

wingspan is much more relevant. you need to play bigger than you actually are. example: a surgeon who is 6'4 but has a seven foot wingspan has tremendous upside potential.

if only jay bilas was an adcom.

 

[chable]

Patrick Ewing would have made an ideal doctor. If only he went to med school instead of play for the Knicks. He could probably operate on someone in a well, or on a tree.

 

[Wackie]

It's probably different for specialties. 😀
There's one EM doc where I work that's got to be 6'5" at least with shoulders as wide as a doorway. Some patients cower and sink back into the bed a little when he walks in with a face like "Please be gentle ". Then some of the louder patients will shut right up and not even test him.
The smallest EM doc there can be a mean SOB, much more scary than the big doc. Once an abnoxious patient pisses him off, fun time is over for them.

 

[UMP]

people just don't take shorter men seriously... it probably would be a pretty big professional disadvantage

 

[CptCrunch]

I've heard size doesn't matter.

 

[novawildcat]

I'm only 5'6" and a guy. I love playing the "angry short guy complex" role as a joke. Seriously, some of the funniest jokes my friends make are short jokes. I love those jokes. Some of the funniest and best docs I have ever gone to were short Asian guys. I used to love to go to my ENT doc, who was really short, when I was little. He was hilarious.

 

[akademiks1989]

I want to be 6'2" when I enter med school 😀

 

[searun]

Why do almost all women prefer to marry men who are taller than them. And why do almost all men prefer women who are shorter. I have a friend, a man, who is 5'3 and he married a woman who is 4'11. It is an objective fact that taller men make more money than shorter men in the business world. I understand that this is a cultural/perception issue that is not related to competence - I just wondered whether this also applies to medicine. I have no idea. Just curious.

 

[Tired]

I've heard size doesn't matter.

Maybe she was just being polite . . .

 

[alwaysangle]

Maybe she was just being polite . . .

she had to becasue she saw nothing to comment on.......😴

 

[seadizzle]

Here is an interesting article, one that really highlights why you should not conclude correlation implies causation! (shame you on science students 😎)

http://www.nber.org/papers/w12466

Suprise, being tall correlates with intelligence, and intelligence is much more strongly correlated with earnings per year than height.

 

[beenthere2]

Why is this even a thread?

 

[weathertalk]

Here is an interesting article, one that really highlights why you should not conclude correlation implies causation! (shame you on science students 😎)

http://www.nber.org/papers/w12466

Suprise, being tall correlates with intelligence, and intelligence is much more strongly correlated with earnings per year than height.

Then why do jews and asians (short people) own everyone academically?

😛

 

[71263]

Yes. If youre shorter than 6' 00'', you have no potential for being a successful doctor. Youre screwed no matter what profession you want to enter. You may as well kill yourself now. 😉

 

[beetlerum]

Here is an interesting article, one that really highlights why you should not conclude correlation implies causation! (shame you on science students 😎)

http://www.nber.org/papers/w12466

Suprise, being tall correlates with intelligence, and intelligence is much more strongly correlated with earnings per year than height.

Yes, but neither does proof of merely correlation, or the existence of other causes, prove a lack of causation.

In the business world, height clearly clearly has an independent effect on success. People take tall men more seriously. There is probably a much smaller effect in medicine. Tall people are more likely to impress in interviews and earn patients and colleagues trust.

 

[Tired]

Why is this even a thread?

The first time you're in the OR with a Staff physician or resident who is substantially shorter or taller than everyone else in the room, you'll understand.

 

[Mac11]

Suprise, being tall correlates with intelligence, and intelligence is much more strongly correlated with earnings per year than height.

nba players are well known for their above average iq scores.

 

[seadizzle]

Yes, but neither does proof of merely correlation, or the existence of other causes, prove a lack of causation.

In the business world, height clearly clearly has an independent effect on success. People take tall men more seriously. There is probably a much smaller effect in medicine. Tall people are more likely to impress in interviews and earn patients and colleagues trust.

Where does this clearly come from?

Are you are using personal bias or citing the study that an inch can mean 1000 more dollars a year for while males? The paper I linked is a more recent article, and given that intelligence correlates much more strongly than height to future salary you need to do some convincing to make the point that "clearly" height makes a difference even after you have controlled for IQ.

 

[112258]

nba players are well known for their above average iq scores.

Hahahaha good point

 

[The Madden Bus]

Why do almost all women prefer to marry men who are taller than them. And why do almost all men prefer women who are shorter. I have a friend, a man, who is 5'3 and he married a woman who is 4'11. It is an objective fact that taller men make more money than shorter men in the business world. I understand that this is a cultural/perception issue that is not related to competence - I just wondered whether this also applies to medicine. I have no idea. Just curious.

I'm 6'5. I would so go out with a girl taller than me. That's just sexy. though I'm usually partial to really short girls (like 5'0-5'2 I love those petites).

 

[Depakote]

I'm 5'10, will this affect my chances?

 

[Nasrudin]

I'm 6'5. I would so go out with a girl taller than me. That's just sexy. though I'm usually partial to really short girls (like 5'0-5'2 I love those petites).

Now this is a fellow who clearly understands the qualities of a good physician, that is to say, one must be fair-minded and resist the temptation to discriminate against others purely on the basis of some arbitrary physical characteristic. Clearly the best policy is to not show preference for one category but rather that one should....hit on all your patients....and nurses.

 

[CptCrunch]

I'm 6'5. I would so go out with a girl taller than me. That's just sexy. though I'm usually partial to really short girls (like 5'0-5'2 I love those petites).

Hey man, quit stealing our women.

 

[blacksheep]

One question for you: R u serious?

 

[HristosKaran]

now that you mention it, i'm 6'1 and almost all of the doctors I see in the ED are taller than me....there could possibly be some truth to it...but the woman doctors that I have seen are average height..

 

[BeatrixKiddo]

see thread: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=322134

 

[Jacks Mannequin]

Hah, I can see the new threads now...
"My stats are 35 MCAT and 3.8 gpa, but only 5'4 height. What are my chances? Will my height hurt my chances of getting into a US med school. PLEASE respond asap! I'm freaking out!"

 

[Mac11]

Hah, I can see the new threads now...

"do you have to do a growth hormone test to be admitted?"

 

[jtorres]

people just don't take shorter men seriously... it probably would be a pretty big professional disadvantage

5'7" male who's loving life. career is good, income is good, and i'll know by the end of the week if i'm going to med school in philly. the women surely do take me seriously, they have no problem with my height so why should i? my friends make short jokes all the time yet i pull the women they cant, have things they'll never have, and have the balls to pursue my dreams. self-perception and confidence will get you further in life than height ever will. believe that!

 

[stereo]

This is pretty relevant:

But more than anything else, Ain wanted to be a doctor. He was smart and knew he could do the job. Being only 4 feet 3 inches, he staunchly believed, should not affect how his dice were cast.

 

[xylem29]

Honestly - I don't think it makes a difference in general. I've been a gastroenterologist who was 5'4. The only thing that crossed my mind was, "this doctor is short" - purely observational. I never questioned his intellect, took him less seriously, etc.

I think for physicians, your height won't make a difference unless you are unusually tall or unusually short - even then, it would only cause patients and other's to notice your height (where people would not pay attention to height for average heighted men) and not question your skills as a physician.

There is a lot of politics and power games within medicine itself - so if a male physician wishes to enter into the world of hospital management, medical school management, etc - where everything is not too different from the world of business, being short, IMO, will not help you.

 

[xcgirl]

I think all of you are taking this thread a bit too seriously.
That being said, there's a lot of research [which I am far too lazy to look up right now]/"they" say that tall people are more successful. This is likely to be due mostly to nutrition/socioeconomic factors which lead to taller people. However, I'm willing to bet that there's a significant social part as well. Taller people are generally considered to be better leaders and are more likely to be taken seriously, etc. [speaking on a first-impression basis only, ignoring the trillions of exceptions to the rule].
Also I'm incredibly biased being a girl who's just a tad over 6' tall.


Could it just be that we have nicer legs?

 

[beetlerum]

Where does this clearly come from?

Are you are using personal bias or citing the study that an inch can mean 1000 more dollars a year for while males? The paper I linked is a more recent article, and given that intelligence correlates much more strongly than height to future salary you need to do some convincing to make the point that "clearly" height makes a difference even after you have controlled for IQ.

Any time leadership is involved, height will matter. Politicians and executives tend to be much taller than average, and no, it's not because they're smarter. There have been plenty of studies that people respond more positively to tall people than short people.

That study offers the explanation that taller people are more likely to go into careers involving intelligence. It could help explain the income gap. But when you're talking about above average groups within the same profession, that effect is not going to explain differential outcomes.

 

[dago]

I read in the New England Journal of Medicine that 5'11'' is the ideal physician height and that their salaries average 1.4x greater than the national average. Lucky me...

 

[ICCONFETTI]

I read in the New England Journal of Medicine that 5'11'' is the ideal physician height and that their salaries average 1.4x greater than the national average. Lucky me...

sigh, i'm barely 5'2

 

[seadizzle]

Any time leadership is involved, height will matter. Are you really going to deny that? Politicians and executives tend to be much taller than average, and no, it's not because they're smarter. There have been plenty of studies that people respond more positively to tall people than short people.

That study offers the explanation that taller people are more likely to go into careers involving intelligence. It could help explain the income gap. But when you're talking about above average groups within the same profession, that effect is not going to explain differential outcomes.

I'm not denying anything, I don't think it was unreasonable at all to ask why you are saying "clearly height gives an advantage." Those studies you mention may exist, I have not read them. If you have a link handy I would be very interested as to the experimental procedure they used to draw conclusions about "leadership." Especially in the realm of psychology, I'm hesitant to accept any "common knowledge" because these can tend to be old wives tales that people assume have scientific backing.

But cven *with* that conclusion though, you still need to show that height plays a significant role in what makes a leader compared to other qualities, if it has 1/100 of the effect of intelligence or speaking ability, your findings that height does play a role is not a very important result.

Your second paragraph is simply incorrect, you'd still have to control for IQ, you cannot make the assumption that IQ will be controlled by simply taking a n average from a group of people. If the average IQ of the tall people within a profession is higher than the average IQ of the short people within a profession, you still have not showed that height affects income to any degree whatsoever indepdent of its correlation with IQ.

 

[etf]

It depends on the doc's ups. For example I'm 6'5'' but I can only grab the rim. I thinks its much more important for a doc to be able to power dunk in a game situation than anything else.

i performed my first dunk in an 8th grade game. what was amazing was not that i was 5'10", but that i was indian. too bad they don't ask you about your vertical at the interviews...

 

[Bolo]

If you have a large penis, you don't have to be tall. DUH.

 

[Nikki2002]

this has got to be one of the most ridiculous threads ever

 

[Nasrudin]

i performed my first dunk in an 8th grade game. what was amazing was not that i was 5'10", but that i was indian. too bad they don't ask you about your vertical at the interviews...

Now...you see...if I was interviewing you such a travesty would not have transpired. I woulda been like..."uh huh nice scores...yadda ya...published in Nature....(whoppdy-friggin-do)....ah yeah here's the thing, my intramural team has been getting spanked by the chinese scientists for 3 seasons now and uh..what I'm getting at is....can you power dunk over a guy like this tall and talk some nasty smack in his face afterward....nah?....seriously?...YOU'RE IN MY FRIEND!"