Yeah, this is the really hard part about medical research. At the individual level for those who are really qualified to do it, the incentives lean in favor of practice, where your comp is 4x-10x higher
Exactly, yes, a hundred times yes! This is the major flaw in our system. But I don't see a way of rebalancing to saner priorities. And apparently, neither do our supreme leaders.
Don't get me started on the loans either -- sometimes those incentives aren't just incentives, but necessary outcomes given your financial state exiting med school. I know folks who emerged from residency (where they moonlighted too!) with 500 credit scores and debt that can be described as multiple new Ferraris. They'd laugh at the idea of anything but practice