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Most Difficult Degree to Achieve?

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StrawPipes

Bluelighter
Joined
Apr 13, 2009
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206
My fellow classmates and I were in a heated debate a while back about what is the hardest degree to get.

I proclaimed a PhD in Math or Physics. A girl who sat by me said Med school by far, and a few other's agreed with this.

What do you think is the hardest degree to obtain? I would have to imagine PhD in Mathematics; I couldn't begin to fathom the Dissertation involved for that.

Any thoughts?
 
Its easier to get into a PhD program than an MD program. 2/3 to 3/4 of qualified applicants get rejected by medical schools (at least up here). Once you're in though the odds of failing out are very low, they wouldn't let you in if you couldn't hack the program.
 
I think it depends on what you mean by the hardest degree to get.

Firstly, you can't say a PhD in one discipline is more difficult to get than a PhD in another discipline. All disciplines require certain things from PhD students. Ie, you need to make an original contribution to the field through your own scholarly work. That requires being on top of the field in terms of previous literature, methods, current conceptual debates, etc. So I don't think you can say one discipline is more demanding than another once you get to PhD level.

In terms of entrance scores to get in to undergraduate or graduate programs then medicine is probably the most difficult. But who knows, some people who would find medicine demanding might be better at philosophy, or doing empirical political science, or something like that. So beyond the different levels (like undergraduate, graduate degrees, PhDs etc) which universities offer I don't think it's possible or meaningful to say one degree is harder than another.
 
I would go with something like a specialization after med school...especially surgery...something like micro-vascular orthopedic surgery of nerves. U gotta be god damn smart and good with ur hands to do that. There isn't much room for error and only the best get to do it at the end.

My SO recently got really drunk and damaged a tendon and a nerve on glass. After going to these surgeons I developed a much bigger respect for them and what they do. They seem to be a kind of their own by just how they act and how well composed they are compared to other people. They are so focused on their work and the difference b/w how they do their job is significant from other staff. It's interesting to watch.
 
Z Y G G Y said:
I would go with something like a specialization after med school...especially surgery...something like micro-vascular orthopedic surgery of nerves. U gotta be god damn smart and good with ur hands to do that. There isn't much room for error and only the best get to do it at the end.

My SO recently got really drunk and damaged a tendon and a nerve on glass. After going to these surgeons I developed a much bigger respect for them and what they do. They seem to be a kind of their own by just how they act and how well composed they are compared to other people. They are so focused on their work and the difference b/w how they do their job is significant from other staff. It's interesting to watch.
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I may sound stereotypical here, but I always assumed surgery wasn't as hard as say Diagnosis. I mean, from what I gathered (mostly from Scrubs so yes I know this will be laughed at) they just mainly learn how to do the procedures; then they do them. It doesn't seem like they need to be really smart, they just need to have steady hands and know what to put where and where to cut what.

That was always my opinion -- based on Scrubs episodes so feel free to prove me wrong with surgery elaboration.
 
The hardest degree to get is the one pertaining to the subject in which you know the least about. Someone going for a degree in metaphysics who loves and has passion for the subject will not find this difficult. However, for someone like ME who hates math/chemistry related fields would perform horribly.

I got a degree in Foreign Language and Literature. It was a breeze for me, but would be super difficult for someone who hates foreign language or has no desire to learn one.
 
Surgical techniques used for large anatomical and trauma based problems are not phenomenaly challenging mentally, its more hand/eye co-ordination, good memory and quick reaction to rehearsed and well known problems that are urgent and life threatening without panic/hesitation/doubt, but again, not mentally original or overly complex. I would guess diagnosis to be more difficult. "'holy shit, hemmorage from severed radial vein! Must stop blood loss by clamping and stabilizing then hand over to vascular surgeon to fix!" is not the hardest thing in the world.

I bet physical sciences have a more limited/difficult time finding thesis subjects that are feesable, due to most topics having been covered and the often difficult, very large and expensive experiments needed...you do not own a LPA, reactor, or authority to conduct nuclear detonations, your nuclear physics research may be hard to do.

I would find philosophy/gender studies/art/music/other LA bullshit hardest, because I would kill myself and be unable to present my work on account of seeing how gh3y I was being PHD student of philosophy....your being interested in whatever subject your doing makes everything much easier.
 
For me personally it would be anything related to higher math and physics or engineering. I'm getting a PhD in psych and its not very difficult at all( at least not yet, this is probably gonna come back and bit me in the butt) . I'm good at it and have the mental abilities needed to get the work done. Its just a lot of work. All the clinical stuff has to be done in a top notch manner as well as everything else. But if I was doing something related to math or physics no matter how much work I'd put into it I would never be able to get very far. SO its just different for everyone. If u have the abilities then its not hard if u work for it, but if u lack the abilities no matter what u do u won't be able to complete the degree. I've seen people not being able to understand some of my psych classes and they had to drop out, just the same way I attempted a chemistry degree a while ago and physical chemistry was just not something my brain could crack.

It might not always be obvious what u r good at when going to college. I got a bio degree at first, then took a break and over the years realized that a psych degree on the PhD level is what I can achieve and it would follow with a career I can be good at. I looked at my abilities and preferences really hard before making this decision. Like: What would I be good at? What would I like to do? and found something that has a balance b/w the two questions. Then I talked to different people that know me and told them my decision. I sat around on this for a good while then applied. It was the biggest, most mature decision I think I made in my life and I hope once I'm done everything will go as planned.
 
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Getting into medical school is much harder than getting through the pass/fail system of medical school. So in terms of "hardest degree to get" I'd say M.D. only because admission requirements tend to be restrictive of many different levels. You need an honours degree, you need reccommendations, you need volunteer work, you need a good MCAT score, and you need to nail your interview.

If you're talking in terms of difficulty to simply attain a degree, I'd say the closer to pure math, the more mentally challenging the degree. The further from pure math, just about anyone can get the degree if they're willing to put the time in.
 
Unbreakable said:
Becoming a VET.... a doctor just has to learn the human body a vet has to learn a whole lot of different shit.....
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Lol I like the part:
a doctor has to learn just the human body
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Have you any idea how complicated the Human body is? I was a Respiratory Therapy major and I almost shit myself when I saw what I had to know in my CardioPulmonary Physiology class.

And a doctor has to know more than just the human body. He has to know every medication there is, be able to understand the physiology and principles of the bodies functions. He has to know tons of different diseases that his patient mau have, and if he messes up his patient could die.

There's more to it then just 'learning the human body'.
 
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