which is more prestigious, MD, PharmD or PhD?

[Turkododo]

as i'm sure others here will tell you, don't let yourself be pushed into a field that you're not interested in.

i am fairly certain i don't want to pursue a scientific PhD. it involves too much politics. the degree itself could take half a decade to complete. i don't want to be involved in academia for my entire life and be sent away to an ultra-boring industry job.

getting into medical school is a monumental task, but why is the MD degree considered so much more important in the grand scheme of things? just like a PharmD applicant, chances are the last time an MD was weeded out was when s/he was applying.

i am leaning toward a PharmD degree, but i really don't want to be overshadowed and thus carry less prestige than an MD. clinical PharmDs manage complex patients' drug regimens and make $100,000-plus without residency. seems to me that that would be pretty rewarding without another decade of ramen noodles.

[purplch0de]

MD/PhD
MD
PhD
PharmD

[Turkododo]

MD/PhD
MD
PhD
PharmD

i hate when people rate MDs over PhDs.

PhD > MD and PharmD in my opinion.

not all PhD people will get positions. and many of them do not get them. even after a decade of education, they have to find something else to do. only the best will get faculty positions and ultra-boring industry jobs.

you don't have to be a good or even great MD or PharmD to practice, you only have to have been a great undergrad student.

[talkingconch]

I'm trying to purse a PharmD as well although i'm not sure if it's the most prestigious. Who cares when you're making $100,000+ as a pharmacist?

[Turkododo]

I'm trying to purse a PharmD as well although i'm not sure if it's the most prestigious. Who cares when you're making $100,000+ as a pharmacist?

yeah man, i'm tired of ramen noodles. i want to live. i want that filet magnon you know.

[Balla_Status]

PE

Professional Engineer

[purplch0de]

Most of my exams at USC have been pass or fail. So yes you can squeak by not doing great, but the end product will still be better than most. Pass and fail line is not concrete, it's based off of class result. And medical school is the most competitive atmosphere there is. Everyone is gunning for that 90th percentile...

[Turkododo]

PE

Professional Engineer

bro, i took linear algebra for a week then quit. power to you.

[Turkododo]

Most of my exams at USC have been pass or fail. So yes you can squeak by not doing great, but the end product will still be better than most. Pass and fail line is not concrete, it's based off of class result. And medical school is the most competitive atmosphere there is. Everyone is gunning for that 90th percentile...

yeah, people will gun for that 90th percentile. residency programs after med school are limited. but most MDs don't have to worry about getting a well paying job. if you get into med school, you won't get weeded out.

the most motivated and hardest working PhD people succeed. that is why i believe a scientific PhD is more pretigious than an MD.

[Turkododo]

however if you are an MD/PhD student, you are the sh*t.

[purplch0de]

yeah, people will gun for that 90th percentile. residency programs after med school are limited. but most MDs don't have to worry about getting a well paying job. if you get into med school, you won't get weeded out.

the most motivated and hardest working PhD people succeed. that is why i believe a scientific PhD is more pretigious than an MD.

You do realize how more competitively medical schools are relative to pharmacy schools right? It's fairly easy to get into pharmacy school with even a 3.6. Standard entrance examinations is also more difficult for medical schools. I am witnessing the difference between PhD students and MD students as i speak. I can tell you that the MD students are easy to distinguish based simply off of their work ethic and questions they ask. My first year of schooling was tough. It's not easy to pass exams when they're pass/fail relative to everyone's score. Imagine getting results that would normally be graded as a B but failing the course.

Don't think the pass/fail system is any easier, it increases competitiveness and makes courses a lot more difficult and that leads to students failing/weeding out. Most students however do very well, especially here at USC which is a private University (Costs per semester are a lot more).

And also, MD's and PhD's are not more prestigious because of schooling but because of their specialty. I will tell you that i have a lot more respect for PhD's then some of the clinical physicians i work with simply because they do not get acknowledged/funding like they should. Research is not an easy field because it is the most frustrating and least rewarding.

[Turkododo]

You do realize how more competitively medical schools are relative to pharmacy schools right? It's fairly easy to get into pharmacy school with even a 3.6. Standard entrance examinations is also more difficult for medical schools. I am witnessing the difference between PhD students and MD students as i speak. I can tell you that the MD students are easy to distinguish based simply off of their work ethic and questions they ask. My first year of schooling was tough. It's not easy to pass exams when they're pass/fail relative to everyone's score. Imagine getting results that would normally be graded as a B but failing the course.

Don't think the pass/fail system is any easier, it increases competitiveness and makes courses a lot more difficult and that leads to students failing/weeding out. Most students however do very well, especially here at USC which is a private University (Costs per semester are a lot more).

PhD as in a Scientific PhD, such a PhD in Neurobiology.

yes, i know MD > PharmD.

MD/PhD > PhD > MD > PharmD.

[purplch0de]

Yes, I work in the neurology/stem cell center at USC (Broad CIRM center). Let me share a picture with you that took over 2 months of work to derive. What you're seeing is neurons migrating away from an embryoid body. An embryoid body is a formation of embryonic stem cells that have clumped (via hanging drop method) and undergo early gastrulation/development similar to mice/humans. We then stop the process by inducing them towards the neural lineage using al-trans-retinoic acid followed by differentiation media which i cannot go into. We then use antibodies (Tuj1 (Red) symbolizes neuron, Nestin (Green)- neural stem cell, Blue (DAPI/Hoechst) which is a nuclear/DNA stain.

So in summary, what you're looking at is the result of converting hES cell line to neurons which can be transplanted without teratoma (Tumor) development) to distinguish or identify the different cell lines derived.

Picture Removed

[BigTicket]

I have a PhD, so I'd like to think it's more prestigious than an MD, but honestly it just isn't. For whatever reason, society has decided to consider MD's to be much more desirable.

Women still want to date doctors, and I'm not talking about PhD's like myself.

As for a PharmD, I've never even heard of that, so it's clearly at the bottom.

MD > PhD >> PharmD

[Flamboyant]

MD v PhD is a great discussion, and it depends a lot on the point of view. To me a PhD >>> MD. At least theoretically. Being a PhD (say in Mathematics), means that you have discovered something that has a chance to be written in history books for eternity. But as BigTicket mentioned, society values an MD a lot more. Thats because if you're an MD, you'll work directly with random people, and you're name will become more familiar to the people at your area. But as I said PhD is the most prestigious among the people who know what it takes to get it.

[IGOTGAME]

MD v PhD is a great discussion, and it depends a lot on the point of view. To me a PhD >>> MD. At least theoretically. Being a PhD (say in Mathematics), means that you have discovered something that has a chance to be written in history books for eternity. But as BigTicket mentioned, society values an MD a lot more. Thats because if you're an MD, you'll work directly with random people, and you're name will become more familiar to the people at your area. But as I said PhD is the most prestigious among the people who know what it takes to get it.

MD because PhD in a lot of areas are easy to get. Also, there are many unemployed PhDs

[JrueHoliday11]

I already have a PhD, Pretty Huge Dick

[DeuceWallaces]

i am fairly certain i don't want to pursue a scientific PhD. it involves too much politics. the degree itself could take half a decade to complete. i don't want to be involved in academia for my entire life and be sent away to an ultra-boring industry job.

It really depends on the field.

[lilbill]

If I'm in a car crash, lying bleeding on the side of the road, I'm praying that a Doctor of Letters stops to help me.

[bballer]

MD=$$$$$$$$$$
PhD=my professors

[purplch0de]

MD=$$$$$$$$$$
PhD=my professors

PhD's can make a lot of money based on their outlet and field of study. If their research involves an the study of disease(s), there are a lot of grants they can write and they can propose their salary for each one. So say the PI has 5 grants, he can input a salary for 30,000 for each one. But most do not do that, they stick to ~100,000 range + University Salary since it's their research that ultimately gets them the funding, not their wealth/fame.

[IGOTGAME]

MD=$$$$$$$$$$
PhD=my professors

law professor = $$$$$+ professor + 10-15 hour work week.

that is where its at.