<p>To Frugald Doctor read my post carefully. An individual with a medical doctorate (MD/DO/PharmD/DDS) and that goes into research will fare much much better than a PhD. This is because these individuals are in much higher demand. Getting someone to take a tenured professor job is much harder when there are lots of 100k+ jobs available in private industry. The research in this case will be clinically focused and involve seeing patients in most cases. Also clinical trials need to be done in the US as mandated by the FDA so the work cannot be outsourced. Industry clinical trial research jobs (mainly go to MDs though I imagine PharmDs and even some dentists in dental companies i.e. Colgate can get involved) are far more stable and usually pay quite well. They’re also more stable as a failed research project won’t result in the elimination of the clinical trial team, only the research scientists. Moreover, if it fails, you can go back to your clinical job you’re trained for in many cases. This <em>is</em> the way to do research and make good money.</p>
<p>Science PhDs on the other hand vastly outnumber the number of tenure track and industry research jobs available. Many end up bitter postdocs or high school science teachers. As was stated earlier industry is fickle, and the needs can change rapidly with the ebb and flow of private equity dollars. Also, because you’re so specialized, a layoff or move (and layoffs happen frequently as most science fails–that’s just the nature of the business) could put you out of the R&D market permanently as there may not be many jobs catering to your exact expertise. I recommend anyone considering a job as a research scientist to look at some job ads with a few chemical, biotech, and pharmaceutical companies. The ads often ask for 10 + years of experience in very specific techniques like cell culturing etc, paint polymers etc. Yes, choose the wrong subspecialty in grad school and you are screwed. Make one wrong career move and you’re done.</p>
<p>Medicine and engineering are more applicable to the real world and job friendly.</p>