My theory is that is that the majority of Canadians are frightened to death of their doctor. They won't tell Angus Reid, let alone their own conscience, what they really think about their doctor in case the information somehow leaks back to him or her. Even under the best circumstances, there's a fine line between respect and fear. People have an understandable tendency to respectfully dread anyone who has the power to order and perform a rectal examination. In their professional dealings with the public, lawyers sometimes have to employ personally invasive techniques to get to the bottom of whatever it is they're striving to get to the bottom of.
Respectful dread is the keynote of the public's relationship with their doctor.
With their lawyer, the public feels brave enough to bypass respect and go directly to dread. There's another important factor that distinguishes doctors from lawyers in the public's eye. That factor is the invisibility of the financial component of the transaction with one's doctor. No cash, cheque or credit cards come into play in a patient's dealings with a doctor. In the public imagination, doctors minister to their patients for the sheer joy and gratification of healing, with a nominal payment from the ministry of health as a token of the province's esteem.