Originally Posted by
JohnBurke
The closest combination medical-pilot environment I can think of is emergency air ambulance, which doesn't pay particularly well, and also requires a clear separation of medical skills and piloting skills. Your focus must, by necessity, be on safety-of-flight, and decisions made with the safety of fight in mind, not influenced by the needs of the patient. Being a pilot and a doctor are not mutually exclusive, but should not be practiced at the same time.
I would actually take this one step farther in order to emphasize the importance of just flying the damn airplane: The flight crew of the air ambulance should be absolutely and totally ignorant of the patient's condition in order to insulate their judgment and decision making during the course of the flight.
It shouldn't matter to the pilots if the patient has a hang nail or is flat lining.