A person who graduates from high school, goes on to university, attends medical school, earns a doctorate, perseveres through internship and residency, and then after ten or more years of training becomes a doctor, has long time perspective. He has earned the right, through years of sacrifice and delayed gratification, to prestige, status and a high standard of living. That ten to twelve years of work and study is an investment in his career for the rest of his life. His long time perspective will also assure a higher standard of living for his children, better schools, and more opportunities. His children will very likely will marry better, have higher social and economic aspirations, and will live better lives.
The time perspective of a doctor investing ten or more years in education at the beginning of his career may be one or two generations, 50 to 70 years. We intuitively sense that a doctor, someone who has dedicated so many years to learn his craft so that he can attend to us and our families when he is most needed, is a person who has earned our respect and esteem. This appreciation for long term thinking may be why the family doctor is usually at the top when surveys of the most respected people in society are compiled.