Why does PhD pay for your schooling but not MD school?

[sully677]

??

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[Chicagochew]

Well I think you are asking why PhD programs pay for your education while MD programs require you to pay?
I would say that this is probably because in a PhD program you are doing work for both the institution and your individual investigator by being a PhD student. You are a full time researcher contributing to publications.
As a med student you don't necessarily contribute. You are learning a skill which will eventually pay you a lot and thus you can pay for your education.
Though perhaps you should be paid for your time in 3rd and 4th year.
PhD is hard...I'd pay them! 🙂

 

[sully677]

MD/Phd is paid by school too right?

 

[scottyT]

MD/Phd is paid by school too right?

MD/PhD is usually paid for with NIH money, not by the school.

 

[Chicagochew]

Yes. Combined degree programs are usually all paid for. Though it depends. MSTP programs are usually fully funded for both graduate and medical school. MD/PhD programs (yes these are different from MSTPs) are funded according to the institution. Some institutions will waive all tuition but will not provide you a stipend for certain portions of your education.

 

[cbrons]

??

because the academic medicine programs are in need of people

 

[Law2Doc]

??

Market forces. We seek to encourage folks to be PhD's and the track is too long and salary not significant enough at the other end to expect enough people to go that road. MD by contrast is a seller's market -- schools have 10,000 applications for 150 spots. So yeah, you can charge as much as you want and still fill the class. Folks are counting on decent salaries at the other end to overcome the debt they go into for MD school. May not be the wisest gamble as tuition goes up with inflation and salaries don't, but we probably haven't hit the breaking point yet. So PhD programs pay because they have to. MD programs charge an arm and a leg because they can.

 

[Gut Shot]

??

Supply and demand.

Also, as a grad student you ostensibly "produce" something of value while you are training: data with which to obtain more funding. Med students consume resources without producing jack.

 

[oldbearprofessor]

Just to clarify, graduate schools offering PhD degrees certainly do charge tuition that must be paid. The difference is that it is common, but by no means universal for the schools to provide graduate stipends that pay this tuition and often provide a living allowance. In exchange for this stipend, graduate students must work - being teaching assistants, work in a lab, etc. The source of this money is either the department where the grad student teaches, the lab where they work, or commonly, a mix of both.

MD/PhD students also are, in theory, responsible for tuition throughout the time they are in school. Again however, funds are available, usually via an NIH grant (MSTP or similar) to pay for this education so they don't have to pay themselves as well as provide a living stipend for them.

 

[tco]

If the school is not MSTP funded, the school absolutely pays for your education. At most schools, the only thing that MD/PhD students pay is general fees.

 

[ACSurgeon]

??

1-MD's will make 5X more money than PhD's
2-PhD students are theoretically being productive (doing research, contributing to literature, grant money covers them)
3- Politics

 

[ar2388]

PhD's contribute to society. they make discoveries, publish papers during their time in school whereas MD's study and learn procedures and not contribute too much later.

don't kill me. lol. my boyfriend will be a chem phd. they contribute to their field... dont kill me *cowers*

 

[Craig McDermott]

PhD's contribute to society. they make discoveries, publish papers during their time in school whereas MD's study and learn procedures and not contribute too much later.

I originally believed this as well (and actually going through undergrad I was planning to go MS/PhD) but after working in a translational research lab for a while, I realized just how much research MDs (just MDs - not MD/PhDs) can do. It pulled me away from grad school and made me aim for med.

 

[Wylde]

??

-PhDs do work for the school and bring money into the institution
-PhDs generally make significantly less money, so giving stipends is a way to encourage a student to get a PhD (since they won't be spending their entire careers paying off loans)
-Medical schools is usually more competitive, so doctorate programs need to offer incentives for attending and medical schools can require whatever they want

 

[diosa428]

I actually have heard that in years to come, the NIH is going to stop funding MSTP programs. Not sure why, or if it's true, but someone told me that.

 

[engineeredout]

Simple... Because they can get away with it.

 

[BluePhoenix]

PhDs are funded due to the cold war and the US trying to encourage more people to go into science in order to compete. Thus, they started paying for students to go into science PhD programs (most humanities PhDs are not paid). They're usually paid for by a combination of school money and PI grant money now.

 

[JLC]

PhD's contribute to society. they make discoveries, publish papers during their time in school whereas MD's study and learn procedures and not contribute too much later.

don't kill me. lol. my boyfriend will be a chem phd. they contribute to their field... dont kill me *cowers*

simply because you don't do research...publish papers ...etc doesn't mean others don't, I know a few MD students who contribute heavily towards the scientific community, even during rotations

 

[Gut Shot]

I know a few MD students who contribute heavily towards the scientific community, even during rotations

Do tell.

 

[gman33]

PhD's contribute to society. they make discoveries, publish papers during their time in school whereas MD's study and learn procedures and not contribute too much later.

don't kill me. lol. my boyfriend will be a chem phd. they contribute to their field... dont kill me *cowers*

One of funniest things I've ever seen on SDN.
Go see your BF next time your get sick.

 

[ar2388]

One of funniest things I've ever seen on SDN.
Go see your BF next time your get sick.

i knew i was gonna get **** for it... all i was trying to say is that PhD's are expected to publish papers during their schooling which contribute to their field, lead to potential breakthroughs (however rarely), and it looks good for their PI. the spend their schooling broadening the scientific knowledge our world has.

that is not to say that MD's are useless. the only thing i want right now is to get into med school and become a doctor. just saying that their schooling consists of learning how to be a doctor, where as PhD's learn how to be a researcher during the first year or two is they need it and then spend the remaining 5 years being a researcher.