CrewResearch
Active member
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2004
- Posts
- 40
NuGuy said:...Vets are pretty far down in the medical pecking order, I've read that in research facilities, the pecking order, prestige wise, went MD (even the crappy ones), PhDs and then DVMs.
Just goes to show that everyone has their problems...
Nu
Pffft. Don't get me started...
When I was in grad school, studying to be a research psychologist in the health/medical field it was the double whammy.
First of all, we "research types" all knew that the students who were in the clinical track (studying to be "therapists") were the ones who were going to be making all the money, almost automatically, leaving the researchers to scratch along. (But research is so intellectually rewarding!)
But what really griped us was that a number of our courses/seminars were "cross-listed" for med students. That is, we and they sat in the same room together, read the same material, did the same stuff, etc. I'm talking about courses like Behavioral Medicine, Psychopharmacology, Neuroimmunology, Behavior Genetics, etc. The rub came because the med students could "pass" the courses with a "C" grade -- while the PhD students had to have an "A" or a "B" in order to get credit toward their degree. Didn't seem right. (I mean, what is a "C" anyway if you're supposed to come out being an expert in something??)
Then, after you get through it all, in my case 2 yrs for the MA and another 4 years for the PhD -- you finally make it, and you're introduced to someone as Dr. so-and-so, and the person looks you in the eye and asks, "Oh, are you a real doctor, or just a PhD??"
Well, anyway -- that was a real long time ago (I'm an "older person," heh heh). Over time, I've done okay -- but, yeah, there's a "pecking order" everywhere, in every industry I guess.
In a way, doing serious research may be a little like flying in that you had better REALLY love what you're doing, because at times -- especially early on -- the "rewards" are NOT monetary. But, also like flying, doing research is something that gets "in your blood" -- and, big money or no, you have a hard time picturing yourself doing anything else, so you just carry on...