you would figure a doc would know better, quite a shock when I heard that.
It all depends, he might have mistaken the pain for muscle pain. My buddy's dad died about 3 weeks ago, complained of the same thing. I was out in the yard and he was digging a hole and sweating REALLY bad. I walked over and he told me he has some chest pains, he knows I am a pre-med and know my shit and told me he has some pain in his chest and points directly to his left pectoral. Immediately I know that is a fucking huge danger sign so I told him go to the ER, he told me he would but never went. The next day I asked why, he said "it was just a muscle pain" and not "in his chest", I told him he was stupid and to go RIGHT AWAY. I got in my car ready to take him and everything but he wouldn't go. He died that night.
See, thing is, some people can not face bad news when they know it is coming. Who is a doctor really? just a man, a person like anyone who sat through HORRIBLE classes for a very long time and got a very powerful degree. A doctor is still a man though, and men sometimes will not face danger when they see it coming. My father just nearly lost his left leg due to staph infection resulting from a hip replacement (his third actually). He told me his incision had become red again and his leg hurt, when I viewed the incision it was BRIGHT PINK (DANGER WILL ROBINSON, DANGER!!!!) and I told him to get to the ER right away. He wouldn't go, and I literally dragged him to the fucking car. Had we waited, the new hip would have had to come out (again, the 4th time it would have been) and he might have died from the infection. Had I not DRAGGED HIM INTO THE CAR, he would never have gone.
So therein lies the danger- just alerting someone to a life threatening situation isn't always enough, the person in question has to have the inner strength to deal with the situation. Not everyone can, medical degree or not.