Why do doctors spend so long in school?

I know you're all thinking "I get it, it's to make sure they're safe to operate on us". That's not why.<br><br>I'm sure you know doctors spend 8 years in school (4 years undergrad, 4 years med school). This is on top of whatever residency and licensing and stuff they need to do to actually get to work. This is long as fuck, and I'm sure you know that "it's so they can learn everything and make sure theyre safe to operate on us".<br><br>Well, they don't learn "everything". They don't learn every disease, or every symptom, or every drug, or everything they need to know in 8 years. You don't need to know 16 ways to treat strep throat, or know every type of blood cell. What they do in school is learn how to learn. You learn how to take a symptom and find the best course of treatment. You learn how to research treatments for new diseases that are popping up, or how to create treatment plans for new diseases. It's not really about memorizing shit all day. It's not that you get a crash course in every disease you could ever come across. It's that you learn to think critically and make the best decisions you can, even when you're presented with something you don't know much about.<br><br>I know this may be obvious I'm just posting because it's a misconception I see a lot, and I think the real reason is interesting and relevant to anyone in school.