>>>>I've worked with some Epidemiologists when I worked in WIC and even with the CDC. You'll have to excuse my generalization, but I put their usefulness just slightly above attorneys.
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>>A certain sort of person may gravitate towards epidemiology to justify your perception, but their contribution to public health is immense and a single epidemiologist can exert benefits on a community that a front-line physician might not match in a lifetime.
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>>Don't take it personally- but are you not an amateur in this area? Could it be that your perception is similar to a caveman scoffing at the space shuttle because there are much bigger mountains back home?
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>No offense taken at all. To say I'm an amateur in the area of epidemiology would be kind. I know absolutely zero.
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>But I do understand general communication skills, and epistemology has always been an area of strong study. So I do tend to focus on how people in other areas approach the facts and data for their intellectual space. The epidemiologists I worked with in both Atlanta and LA were some of the biggest hacks I've ever met. They couldn't communicate, couldn't do basic math, and tried to convince everyone that the world was ending in five years. Again, call on my sin of making a generalization, but I thought they were some of the worst professionals I'd ever met.
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>But I'll compliment them for being better than lawyers. :)

I tend to watch TV series in bursts, which may be the only thing I have in common with Bill Gates. The current series is "The Good Wife." It is a seriously good show which would probably change the way you think of lawyers. They do not all glow in sunshine but they are human beings, just smarter than the average bear. Check it out if you get a chance. Multiple Emmys. The acting and writing are close to beyond belief. The actress I love is one of Alicia's subordinates, an Indian American with the unimprovable name of Archie Panjabi. She has more attitude than you. The star, Julianna Marguiles, is great but usually restrained. Kalinda blows the doors off every time out.