<p>My husband has a PhD in bioelectrical engineering. He makes a salary commensrate with a physician (not a surgeon), but has the benefit of regular, predictable hours and the ability to delegate all technical tasks to MS engineers. He works for a multi-national medical device company and travels extensively and well to monitor corporate research. For instance, he is currently in Sweden and on his way to Brussels. He also teaches in the med school of a public ivy institution. All of this was made possible with the PhD. </p>
<p>Granted, he does have to deal with some of the publish or perish, but given the nature of this job this is not a huge concern. </p>
<p>Anyone who is interested in contributing to the field needs to be a PhD. Anyone who is interested in the technical aspects of “doing” science, should get an MS. Anyone who wants to be an Oompa-Loompa should stop with a BS.</p>
<p>In terms of MDs, they have prestige. But they also have a defined program (my husband spent nine years earning his PhD) and clear paths for employment. However, physicians and surgeons get wrapped in the insurance billing/reimbursement trap, legal issues, and malpractice concerns that really are hellish. I’d say if you want to have direct patient interaction, go for the MD, but know you will be entering a very stressful and unpredictable occupation.</p>
<p>It really depends on the specialty. Many doctors, such as ER physicians, have a great work life balance and live very comfortably. On average, they work 36 hours per week and make 250k per year (Source: MGMA). Other specialties that are probably harder to match into but provide a great work/life balance are dermatology, ophthalmology, radiation oncology, plastic surgery, etc. </p>
<p>IMO, finance is a shrinking industry. There’s been a lot of lay offs in the last few years and there’s no guarantee that you’ll make the next promotion. Usually those who can’t make the next promotion end up opening their own fund or business. There’s not much job security in this field and its very, very high stress. At least in medicine you have total job security and a stable income. </p>
<p>If you’re looking for an ideal career, engineering is great too but you won’t make as much as an MD, JD, or MBA. You’ll cap at around 100k but have good hours. Computer science is pretty good; top tier company s like Google and Facebook offer 100k starting salaries with amazing perks (There’s not much salary growth though). </p>
<p>I don’t know too much about law, but medicine is the best career in my opinion. You can get prestige, great money, and a life if you match into the right specialty.</p>
<p>^^This post is why this forums is a joke on the level of yahoo answers. This KID is in high school and preaching about all these fields. All you have done is read articles and other posts, quit acting like you know the first thing about any of these fields.</p>
<p>For a 23 year old, you’re pretty immature. Instead of personally attacking me, why don’t you enlighten us with what you know about these fields? Yes I am in high school but I’ve spoken to many people in medical and finance fields. I’m just sharing what they have told me and from what I’ve read about these fields.</p>
<p>Come on, have you really though? Or have you read a bunch of information on the internet? Because I was in your position once googling things like “Life of a doctor” and your post sounds similar to what would pop up.</p>
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<p>That is the thing. I don’t know enough about these fields to give advice to someone seeking it. I’d leave it up to the people who have experience. I am sure the person asking a question can do a google search just as well as you can. </p>
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<p>That is not how you came off. It is fine to give your opinion, but when you claim that finance is a “shrinking industry” or how much money an ER doctor makes, etc. when you have zero direct knowledge all you are doing is putting possibly very false information in the OPs head. It is irresponsible and immature.</p>
<p>Your post was textbook CC high school kid style. “Such and such make X money”. “Engineers cap out early”. “Doctors don’t have a life”. I have seen these posts by dozens of others kids on this forum and guess what? You cannot apply uniform results to something as diverse as results of a career path. So don’t.</p>