Financial Comparison: Physician Scientist vs. Physician Lawyer
Written By: Nick Nguyen | Read full profile
This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on a link and choose to make a purchase I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. You are not obligated to do so, but it does help fund these blogs in hopes of bringing value to you! See our disclaimer for more information.
I, like many others who have endeavored to pursue a dual degree in medicine + “insert other professional degree”, have hit some form of resistance from my peers. I’ll often get hit with:
“Do you want to stay in school forever?”
“Do you really need to get that degree?”
“How will that help you in the future?”
“That sounds expensive.”
“Do you really need to get that degree?”
“How will that help you in the future?”
“That sounds expensive.”
Like - do you really need any degree to be successful at life? NO! Look at Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg - dropped out of Harvard and are now two of the richest and arguably influential figures in the 21th century.
However, some fields *cough* medicine *cough* law *cough*, create this barrier to entry wherein you HAVE to get that degree to practice it. So if you want to practice medicine and law, then absolutely - got for it!
Now, we have to give credit to the world for accepting the fact that adding an MBA or MHA to your Medical Degree is useful. I mean let’s face it - medicine is a business.
And probably the most traditional dual degree involving medicine is the MD/PhD or DO/PhD. In my experience, most advisors will not immediately shoot you down if you walk in and tell them you’re interested in doing a PhD with your medical studies (at least not until they see your GPA or MCAT score, but that’s a rant saved for another time).
But then why is adding a law degree to your medical degree instantly targeted with nuclear missiles armed with discouragement and skepticism when brought up? I mean to the advisors and physician mentors who have told their students “don’t do it” without listening to their reason why...back up and realize you just failed at your job of being a mentor by shooting down that dream. Instead, ask them why and how you can help them get there!
Legal savvy is just as valuable as business savvy in the medical field. In my experience, people always say that the fields are too different and unrelated, but I’d argue that they’re even more related than medicine and business or even medicine and your PhD in presumably a specific niche in science.
I mean, you have to worry about malpractice, ethics, and “rules” whenever you see a patient. Not so much how much their copay will need to be to break even or what their mitochondria look like to prescribe them an antibiotic. I mean you may find yourself in the latter unique situations occasionally, but the law governs us ubiquitously in every aspect of our life. Why not know more about it? (For the record, I am still a huge advocate for an MBA and would’ve still considered a PhD in science, had it not been for my experience with the toxic nature of academia).
But despite this, some people are still so shortsighted to see that adding a JD is essentially no different, and potentially even more cost-effective than adding a PhD to your medical studies.
Let’s break it down:
| JD | PhD | |
| Added Duration | 3 - 5 years ♦ | 6 - 7 years ♦♦ |
| Costs | $50,000 - 60,0000 per year | $0 up-front with grants |
| Salary while in school | $0 - 50,000 per year | $30,000 per year |
| Added Earning Potential During Studies | $10,0000+ per year and perks | $0 ♦♦♦ |
♦ full-time vs part-time
♦♦ average time a doctoral student takes to get their PhD
♦♦♦ Did you know that most funded PhD programs do not allow you to have a side hustle or do a part-time job?
Of course there are trade-offs. Adding a PhD will typically mean that your medical degree is funded too. But unless you are a work-horse or get lucky with a promising project, it could be years before you finish it and actually gain something that will supplement your career as a physician scientist in academia (unfortunately this fact was mentioned to me by so many mentors in the past and they’ve pointed it out to me in several other people’s careers). And can you believe that most funding and graduate programs prohibit you from working another job to increase your income? I mean it’s understandable, the government is funding your education, so they don’t want you distracted, but you can be stuck with stipends that are below the cost of living in your city! How’s that for quality of life for the people who are working tirelessly to innovate our understanding of science and medicine?
A JD, on the other hand, will arguably take less time and give you more opportunities to make money on the side, since remember the law applies to all walks of life (unless you live in some kind of anarchist society) and even if you get really deep into law by clerking or being a paralegal, there’s always some sort of perk whether it be food or a decent stipend. And there’s no restrictions to doing it part-time! (Unless of course you’re worried about your grades and mental sanity, which is true of essentially every grad school/professional career experience). So if you are already earning a salary as a physician, you could be earning twice as much while attending your program! There are no limits to your income!
After talking to a lot of my peers, I found that the biggest deterrent for students who have considered this medical + law path though is how to finance their education. Not to mention, it doesn’t help how there isn’t as much discussion about the intersection of medicine and law compared to the intersection of medicine and other fields like business or basic science. So, let’s change that! Check out my philosophy on financial independence and funding your education and chat with me about the different types of law out there, so we can navigate it together!
*Nguyening Lifestyles is not a registered financial service provider and does not give financial advice. All information in these posts are for entertainment purposes only. Nguyening Lifestyles is not liable for any actions or outcomes that transpired after your reading of the following post.
Recommended Posts:
