As one who has put their life in the hands of a surgeon on more than one occasion. I'm quite happy to put them on a small pedestal!
Personality wise, there are many traits that good surgeons and pilots share, but the training that they go through far exceeds anything we do in the commercial world.
Their value compared to us, is also compounded by the vast amount of time and money thrown at them by the NHS to train them. FLying is an expensive game to train into, but the cost of training a surgeon, comes closer to that of a military pilot than a civvy one.
Their employers have far more invested in them, than ours do for us and so they are more valuble.
Add in the fact that they have a very, very strong professional body to represent their interests, then there are huge differences in how they are treated compared to us commercial pilots.
That didn't use to be the case, but it is now.