Good points. MD vs PhD
"Who is going to pay for [the MD's] student loans? Their overhead? Their capital investments? For their working 80-100 hour weeks, putting up with years of internship? Only to see that they make no more money, then say, an accountant with just a 4 year degree."
Medical school is very expensive. Science PhD candidates often pay nothing for tuition and get a small stipend sufficient to eke out a living. I doubt that the average MD makes more than 10x the salary of the average university professor or science PhD.
PhD's never pay $30,000+ a year for liability insurance. PhDs don't spend hours filling out insurance forms to get paid. Law firms don't run TV ads soliciting lawsuits against PhDs for malpractice.
The cost of liability insurance drives many Ob-Gyns out of practice. No matter how good they are, they will get sued at some point as not every birth goes perfectly. Hospitals settle lawsuits out of court no matter how frivolous, as the cost of lawyer fees and staff time (including hours in court by M.D.s or nursing staff) isn't worth it. Lawyers know this.
"Ambulance chasers" is part of our language...
If you want to discuss disparity in pay, college football coaches in "Big Ten" schools typically make more than most if not all professors on campus, while the players are supposed to make nothing. Is that fair?