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PhD vs Medicine degree - which is more prestigious to you?

PhD vs Medicine degree - which is more prestigious to you?

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Medicine :tongue:
Original post by StarLinyx
PhD vs Medicine degree - which is more prestigious to you?

depends on the PhD
(edited 2 years ago)
The implication of this seems to be "which is more prestigious so I can do that one", and I feel like doing a medical degree (or a PhD for that matter) just for the "prestige" of it is not a good reason to do it. For medicine there is a lot required to make it in the profession without burning out and so you need to be really committed far beyond the prestige of it. That also probably really applies to a PhD, since it's a long and in depth project and if you don't have a real connection to what you're working on you will probably be more likely to withdraw before completing it.

However all that said and done, I think it is a lot harder to get a fully funded PhD in an arts subject at a "top" department than it is to get into a medical degree, for what it's worth. Getting a funded project in e.g. medieval studies, Egyptology/Ancient Near Eastern Studies etc from a well established department is very hard because there is just so little funding available in the first place.
Original post by StarLinyx
PhD vs Medicine degree - which is more prestigious to you?


Swings and roundabouts. A PhD involves discovery of new knowledge, while a medical degree (academically demanding though it is) is all about learning a subject that is already well know as far as most practicing medics are concerned. That does not mean I would let most PhDs lose on my with a scalpel however, curiosity is not the same as technical competence and PhDs very widely in terms of quality, while the medics tend to be good at setting a fairly high bar everyone must get over.
in 2019/20 in the UK there were just under 9,000 graduates of medicine degrees
In the same year 24,500 were awarded a Doctorate (so PhD/EngD/DClin etc)

so just in numbers terms - PhDs are more common :ninjagirl:
Original post by PQ
in 2019/20 in the UK there were just under 9,000 graduates of medicine degrees
In the same year 24,500 were awarded a Doctorate (so PhD/EngD/DClin etc)

so just in numbers terms - PhDs are more common :ninjagirl:

what was tsr like in 03
I agree with @artful_lounger.
They are both impressive academic achievements and how much I'd be 'impressed' probably depends on the person and what they made of the PhD/medical degree. Plus, plenty of doctors have a PhD or MD anyway.
I guess technically a PhD would be more prestigious as it’s higher in the educational framework being a doctoral degree where a medical degree is a bachelors in medicine and a bachelors in surgery (uk degree). As @becausethenight said, many medical graduates advance their academic profile with a PhD, DPhil, MD, MbPhD or equivalent.
When I was younger and naïve, I thought PhDs were prestigious. However, I've seen too many friends spend stupid amounts of hours doing mundane donkey work for their supervisors. Its more like an apprenticeship in lab skills that a great intellectual endeavour.
I work for a major healthcare provider, nobody with a PhD I know wishes they’d become a doctor, but lots wish they’d become a surgeon.

Patient outcomes are relatively more acclaimed by surgeons, but due to advances in technology from the work carried out by academics (PhD), it’s now mostly limited to novel cases.
(edited 2 years ago)
Reply 11
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Napp
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Medicine is self evidently high respectable but a PHD equally requires a huge amount, if not more in some cases, work. It really depends on what the subject is and what the thesis is on for me to actually answer this question..
Reply 12
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StarLinyx
OP
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Original post by Napp
Medicine is self evidently high respectable but a PHD equally requires a huge amount, if not more in some cases, work. It really depends on what the subject is and what the thesis is on for me to actually answer this question..

And potentially also where the PhD was registered. A PhD from Oxford sounds an awful lot better than a PhD from Huddersfield. I had the option of either UCL and Birmingham, but went with the latter as I wanted a new experience and environment. I already new UCL well from my MSc days.
(edited 2 years ago)
I think it really depends on how you look at it, and it could be argued either way. PhDs are about discovering something novel and pursuing an area of work no one has previously looked at, whereas a medical degree is about the accumulation of information. PhDs are also the highest degree that can be rewarded whereas a medical degree is an undergraduate course.

However, a medical degree requires a lot of skills that aren't required for a PhD and a lot of responsibility that isn't a part of academia, so I don't think there's an objectively correct answer.
Medicine. There's nothing more prestigious than spending your days putting your finger up people's bums and having your life dictated by Brenda in HR with her NVQ diploma.
The one that leads to the prefix "Dr" being attached to your name when you complete the studies.
Original post by StarLinyx
PhD vs Medicine degree - which is more prestigious to you?

Why? Why does this even matter? Why is academia so much about showing off and trying to be smarter than everyone else at your level of study? So privileged and elitist. Yawn 🙄
Reply 17
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StarLinyx
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Original post by Aliyah1981
Why? Why does this even matter? Why is academia so much about showing off and trying to be smarter than everyone else at your level of study? So privileged and elitist. Yawn 🙄

I don't think all students show off by their credentials, and especially not the poor ones with no previous university education within their family.
I don’t think prestige is gained on the basis of which degree you did. It’s more to do with why you did that degree, and what did you do with it afterwards.

For example I would afford more prestige to Stephen Hawking (PhD) than to my local GP (medical doctor). But I would also give more prestige to a world renowned spinal surgeon (medical doctor) than to my school biology teacher (PhD).

I think prestige comes from having a passion and working hard at it, resulting in success (which gives you even more passion that motivates you to work even harder, as a positive feedback loop). Ultimately those are the people who get to the top of their chosen field. It is not gained by simply applying to study one degree over another.
Reply 19
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gjd800
20
Original post by StarLinyx
And potentially also where the PhD was registered. A PhD from Oxford sounds an awful lot better than a PhD from Huddersfield. I had the option of either UCL and Birmingham, but went with the latter as I wanted a new experience and environment. I already new UCL well from my MSc days.

It might sound that way but there is no guarantee the 'better' institution has the better supervisor, and so making that sort of initial judgement is a bit daft

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