The PhD is Broken

A couple months ago, I read an article that talked about the average time it takes to complete a PhD program in the Humanities: 9 years. That's course work, preliminary exams or comprehensive exams or both, and the dissertation. I hope that most of you are thinking that that is a horrific amount of time, oppressive, etc. If you think that is an appropriate amount of time to develop an expertise in a particular field, especially if one is expected to go on to teach in that field, then I should probably mention that medical school is only 4 years post-bachelor's degree. Yes, that MD will then need to do a one year internship and then a number of years of residency, but at least that man or woman is out of school and making real money, regardless of how little money that is at first. There is something wrong with an education system that would rather bankrupt young men and women than to see them get in, go through a quick rigorous study, and then get them out. Even though I finished my PhD program in 5 years, I spent a total of 11 years in college. Last year, I finally entered the job market in my chosen field, and while I start at the bottom rung on the pay scale in the same neighborhood as an interning or first year resident MD, I can never hope to see my salary increase as exponentially as his or hers will. Yet I am just as much in debt as that MD, and probably far more so than most of them. Now tell me that there is nothing wrong with that.