This is an important point, for on this point hinges the key of any person's attitude toward the medical profession. I think that when you remember that doctors die younger than the rest of us, on the average, you'll see that the first viewpoint doesn't really hold water. It is not enough to debunk a popular theory, you must replace it with an alternative. And so I shall. I think doctors are held captive by their patients - you and me.
Doctors have a very important function in society.
If I ever get into a car accident where I am injured, I don't want anybody trying to treat me who doesn't know how to sew my body parts back together. That said, I think we expect too much of doctors. Humans are complex, making medicine complex. Too complex for any one person to know everything there is to know. The more detail we learn about any one subject, the harder it becomes for one person to know everything, or even enough.