While some doctors can be arrogant bastards, those people aiming at medical studies are usually highly devoted to the field. One would assume the high entry bar

While some doctors can be arrogant bastards, those people aiming at medical studies are usually highly devoted to the field. One would assume the high entry barrier, based on the Abitur average (upon graduation of the highest tier basic education, and don't get me started how that system is fucked up in its own way), would drive people not directly qualifying for a slot to other fields. Guess what, it doesn't. Since you can get slot by simply waiting it out (your average in improved by 0.1 per semester, at least that's how the NC system worked back the day I care about it). And there are people that wait for years until they qualify for a slot. If working for years side jobs, as waiters or what not, and miss those years of white collar salaries in the end, only to have to spend years of training to start working cruel shifts at a hospital at the early days of their medical careers, doesn't show dedication I don't know what. Side note: All the doctors I met so far, ranging from GPs all the way to surgeons and oncologists, would have made for less than stellar engineers. My oncologist maybe, but being a good oncologist is probably saving more lives than being an electrical or mechanical engineer.