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You're full of it...

you can't be a real doc and not know how the HIV virus works. Heck, I'm a PRE-med, and I can tell ya that you're completely wrong.

HIV attacks a certain type of lymphatic cell (T-cells, if I remember correctly). Once the lymphatic cells are killed, that's AIDS. Those 40 diseases your referenced? Those are opportunistic infections that take advantage of a weakened immune response.

There are some very legitimate researchers who believe that HIV is not the cause of AIDS. The basic theory is that it is just another common opportunistic infection which often takes hold in people who have AIDS. This would be consistent with its spreading from person to person along the same channels as AIDS. An important part of their thesis is that in the early stages of AIDS research, shortly after the HIV virus was discovered, the CDC defined AIDS as any of a cluster of symptoms and opportunistic infections ACCOMPANIED BY THE HIV VIRUS. This resulted in people who had all the other symptoms/infections consistent with AIDS, but lacked the HIV virus, being excluded from all mainstream research involving AIDS patients, with predictable effects on the results of the research. This was a serious methodological error, even if further research eventually does prove conclusively that HIV is the cause of AIDS. What you are being taught in med school is the mainstream view, but it is not without respected opponents.

"Heck, I'm a PRE-med"

Let's follow that up with "and have never designed an experiment in my life and get all my knowledge spoon fed to me and never question orthodoxy." Hey Jude! Wake up sometime and smell the coffee. Orthodoxy is often wrong. Much of what you are being taught is wrong and won't be known for being wrong for years to come. It's the nature of science and medicine. Or do you still treat fevers with leaches to get rid of the bad blood?