<p>An engineer from MIT has a 4 year undergrad degree whereas a physician has a 4 year undergrad degree, a 4 year medical degree and a 3+year residency (receiving pay only while a resident and less than an engineer). So the engineer has 8 excellent years of income before the doctor is earning anything reasonable. Also the physician, in general, is likely heavier in debt. If you raised the pay for engineers then you would create a disincentive to go to medical school and lower the quality of the physician pool.
I have both degrees and I would not have pursued a medical degree if engineers were paid more, it would not be worth it to me.</p>