just wondering, why would my son want to go to Harvard med school (or any) and spend 80000/year for 6years instead of going for a Molecular Biology phd and make 35000/year. Is the difference in salaries so much that it justifies this investment or is it because people just want to be doctors so badly?
Medical school is 4 years, not 6. Doctors diagnose and treat patients, scientists do not. Clinical medicine pays more than research so in the end the MD comes out ahead. It would be even worse if you had to pay for a PhD.
Also stipends for bio PhD students are
More in the 25-30k range.
Not everyone has what it takes to be a good Principal Investigator. That’s why so many end up just being MDs.
To avoid confusing the OP further (who obviously has very minimal knowledge of MD and PhD training), @JustOneDad, you are referring to combined MD/PhD students (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_Scientist_Training_Program) who ultimately leave research and become full time clinicians, correct? Very very few people get PhDs, attempt to be PIs, fail, and then go get MDs (as your post sort of implies)