Doctors in any field can be either arrogant or patient and caring. It’s a personality thing more than a specialty thing in my opinion. Surgeons may seem more detached because they don’t spend as much time with their patients. They diagnose the problem, then do surgery and a few follow ups, and the relationship ends there.
Primary care doctors see patients more often and therefore has a better chance to get to know them. I think arrogance is more of a personality flaw rather than specialty choice when it comes to doctors.
In any field you can find doctors with an “I’m the doctor, so therefore you know nothing complex,” just as you can find someone you’d like to adopt into your own family because they are kind hearted and take the time to listen to your concerns and gently explain things to you. I think age and length of time in the field aslo plays a part in bedside manner.
My preference for choosing a doctor in any field is one who has been in practice long enough to be comfortable in what he is doing, but not afraid to admit that even he or she can make a mistake. After all, doctors like us are only human.