Re pilots vs doctors: pilots would be the equivalent of elective surgery, i.e., it can wait.
There are so few doctors that getting a tired doctor is "better than nothing" as you have a greater chance of survival if you get mediocre care vs no care at all and certain death.
Ironically, the reason my wife, a physician, gets to see her dad, a private pilot, most often is when he's flying medical teams to harvest organs from organ donors.
'Agreed' to your points, at least in part ;)
Right. And we have so few doctors because we artificially cap the number of doctors instead of letting free market dictate how many doctors we can have.
There are so few doctors that getting a tired doctor is "better than nothing" as you have a greater chance of survival if you get mediocre care vs no care at all and certain death.