Phenotypic differences between male physicians, surgeons, and film stars: comparative study

Dear Editor,
The paper by Trilla et al.(1) is a fascinating study comparing heights and
good looks of different medical specialists. Such studies clearly show how
Evidence Based Medicine allows to demonstrate fundamental findings. Of
course, in the present case, those findings are quite obvious and have
already been suggested by some earlier ABM (Admiration Based Medicine) and
NBM (Narcissism Based Medicine) works.
However, a careful metanalysis of the litterature, available in this major
field, enables us to stretch the conclusions a bit further.
In a seminal study, Fox et al.(2) have showed that the hands of
orthopaedic surgeons are bigger than those of abdominal surgeons (but
smaller than those of gorillas). We can safely assume that hand size is
reasonably correlated to overall body height. Since it has now been
demonstrated that, within medical professions, height is linked to good
looks (1), we can therefore conclude that orthopaedic surgeons are even
more handsome than the general surgeon population. Only jealous physicians
or bitter general surgeons would argue that this reasoning is pure
sophism.
The bad news, of course, is that gorillas are even better looking.

1. Trilla A,Aymerich M, Lacy AM, Bertran MJ
Phenotypic differences between male physicians, surgeons, and film stars:
comparative study
BMJ 2006;333:1291-1293
2. Fox JS, Bell GR, Sweeney PJ. Are orthopaedic surgeons really gorillas ?
BMJ 1990;301:1426-6

Competing interests:
None declared