New here...I'm not mormon or a recovering mormon. (hope that's okay I'm here and posting) I am just so dang fascinated by the religion and I came across this site the other day in my search for more information. I'm not looking into joining either, rather, I know many many mormons in my town and it peeks my interest because of it...and I must say, they are really the nicest people and their children are so respectful and polite.

Is this unusual? 99% of the mormons I know in my town, the fathers are Medical Doctors. Most of these families are not from here, they move here to work at this town's very large medical facility. Is there a high number of mormons that become doctors, and if so, why?

The doctor thing is not said often. In general there is not a higher percentage of doctors in the mormon religion than out. In fact I would say generally there is a smaller percentage, in my experience anyway.

The nice and polite thing is somewhat un-representational too. Mormons act nice because they are mormon and they know you are watching them. I guarantee you that in these polite kids are the same as any other kids when they are at home.

I've heard that said about dentists, but not about MDs. Interesting.

And, yes, people around here are pretty accepting of those of us (me included) who have never been Mormon and never will be, as long as we play nice. Like you, I'm here because I find Mormonism fascinating and I come from a neighborhood with a high Mormon population.

Not sure why so many are doctors, but your observation is correct. I live in the Midwest also. If your community is like ours, they will live in your town for 2-4 years, then move on. It becomes a joke that you shouldn't get close to a Mormon because they don't stay long. That's true whether they are doctors or not.

It is not your imagination. BYU is number 1 in country in the amount of students they send to Dental School and are in the top 10 for students that enter medical school.

I can't give you a good reason why mormons tend to enter those fields. If I were to give you my opinion, I would say that mormons put a lot of focus on careers that make a lot of money. They have to give a lot of it to the church and have a lot of kids and so the culture often looks up to people who make money.

I do not know why exactly, but many mormons do enter those fields for some reason. I thought about being a dentist for a little bit because I liked the lifestyle (Make money but still have time for family). But after shadowing dentists for a few months I decided it wasn't something I would like.

Couldn't tell you myself. Went to BYU and became a dentist. Haha. I was always pressured to become something that was respected and made a decent living. When I said "dentis" it got a positive response. So here I am.

Have no idea if statistically there are more MD's in morg - may be that Dr's in mormondom are really revered and in visible positions.

is because the Mayo Clinic is there, and everyone who moves there is a doctor (or computer engineer at IBM). If you are in a university town, and there is a med school, then that is the reason.

I lived in a university town with a small med school. There were far more PhD doctors than medical doctors in the local ward, and there was a pretty high percentage of move-ins with PhDs. That's where the jobs were.

I suspect what you are seeing is more influenced by the local employment characteristics that bring in out of state families, than an overwhelming number of MDs in Mormonism.

Brother Of Jerry Wrote:
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> is because the Mayo Clinic is there.

Ditto for my city Bro of Jerry. As I'm sure you know, there is another Mayo Clinic here in Jacksonville, FL. I live in the ward nearest the clinic.

We've always had a revolving door of Mayo Residents cycling through the ward. They stay about 2 years. When I was Mormon, I made friends with the wives and kids so it was sad when folks constantly left.

Interestingly, the docs never had real major callings in the ward, due to time constraints I guess (they were all RM's, temple married etc.). BUT, the Mayo residents were used mercilessly by ward members and leaders for free medical care/advice. I mean, CONSTANTLY. It's like their actual calling was "Ward Physician." heh.

Interesting phenomenon.

;o)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/2011 07:59AM by shannon.

I'm not looking into joining either, rather, I know many many mormons in my town and it peeks my interest because of it...and I must say, they are really the nicest people and their children are so respectful and polite.

I work in a field in which I have frequent contact with people who have just been released from prison. Some have been incarcerated for 20 years, sometimes for murder. When I work with these people, I'm surprised how respectful and polite they are when dealing with me and others. This is a coping mechanism that they've learned in prison. Just because these children appear respectful and polite to others, doesn't mean that they're superior morally or superior in any other way.

Those children are living in their own kind of prison.

My experience has bee that Mormon men who want to move up in leadership get training as Doctors, Dentists, Attorneys, Consultants or plan to own businesses. This allows a flexible work schedule necessary for a Bishop or Stake President. It also means enough money so the suits in SLC take notice. I have even know a few Veterinarians who have private practice for that reason.

Many become doctors to defray the expense of so many childbirths. ;)

Ron

...are J Wits?

It is too funny that you should mention this today. My husband and I just talked about this same thing today while we were walking. Well...almost the same thing. I asked him why it seems that many of the Air Force doctors are Mormon. Every base that we move to always has MANY Mormon doctors and dentists too :)

Really? I've been a military dependent for most of my life and I've never noticed this. A lot of the docs I've run into have been from other countries.

In Yakima, WA, we have a large percentage of all professional people that are LDS. That includes GPs, dentists, internists, various surgeons, podiatrists, and lawyers. Shoot, there's a very large clinic area that's all LDS, many with the same surnames.

As for LDS being nice, I may be cynical, but to get to know them some may change your mind. A nice Mormon--even one in your own family--can change on you in a second if you leave the church or become critical of it.