I am kind of surprised by some of the responses I got from this post. I suppose that it probably points to a difference in American and Japanese culture, or perhaps it is just the words I chose in Japanese for "respect" doesn't mean quite the same thing as the English. Anyhow, I just wanted to post a link to Forbes.com's annual list of prestigious occupations, since doctors rank #2:
By the way, I don't mean that I want to be respected; I just think everyone's opinions are interesting from a cultural point of view.
I changed your sentences a little bit, but your original ones are understandable enough.
I don’t think “respect” and “尊敬する” are so different.
But it’s difficult for those who are not doctors to rank their specialties.
I think brain surgeons and cardiac surgeons are respected very much, as you wrote,
because they are required a lot of experience and techniques.
Their field is directly related to people’s lives.
The community you posted is for doctors, so maybe some of them don’t want to
admit their specialties are less respected than others.
I assume that’s why your question raised a controversy there.
I think you understand their Japanese. Their language is quite rough.
Take it easy and good luck.
;-) I actually just finished working with some doctors who said that their specialty was not well respected by other doctors, so I wondered if there were physcians in Japan who felt the same way. I suspect that Americans are more used to talk about wether or not a particular profession (or subset of a profession) is respected. I often hear comments about respect for physicians in particular declining. Anyhow, probably not the best community to ask that question.