Like @evograd, I slightly disagree. Scientists do have a unique role in society through their pursuit of truth and knowledge. I know that sounds like I’m romanticizing it, or fetishizing it, as you would put it, so please keep in mind that I mean this in a narrow sense and I also don’t think it’s the the only thing that matters.
The difference between a scientist and a mechanic (or an MD, actually) is that the work that those professionals do, as individuals, would still be done without them. If one particular mechanic didn’t exist, it would change nothing about the state of car maintenance and someone else would simply do the work they would have done. The same isn’t true for science. At least some of my papers, my “discoveries,” might not have been done by others for many years, if at all, at least not in the same way or context (and context is important in science). Our contributions are unique. The same would be true of historians, philosophers, and social scientists, btw, so I’m not saying that only scientists can claim this status. And I don’t think it IS a status, actually. Many people would put plumbers and car mechanics above scientists in terms of their importance and impact in the world and I don’t want to quarrel with that. I’m just saying that scientists contribute something that does make their role unique, if often esoteric: knowledge.