I didn’t realize this until Benito pointed it out: the difference between a market driven and an expertise driven credential. As you know I have been jaded lately and I think the root of all apathy in the medical field comes when you begin to view your daily grind as a job like any other. That was certainly part of my problem. Because I thought of it as a job like any other I assumed the degree that went with other jobs (JDs, PhDs, MAs and MBAs as opposed to MDs) were expertise driven. Doctors need MDs to demonstrate basic competence or people die. Benito then reminded me that not every job is a matter of life and death no matter how much Mike Triforce hams it up when he has a filing deadline. Here’s Benito to tell you what the differences are between credentials as part of our first 200 level class on student debt.

Hi kids. Consider this part of an effort to get back on track as near as it relates to our core mission of providing meaningful advice,insights and commentary into what affects us as student debtors. This is a 200 level commentary because it is a bit more abstract than simply factoring in the effect of taxes and interest on your monthly bottom line. This has to do with assigning a value to the education you received in order to be better informed when it comes to making a decision if the education juice is worth the financial squeeze. Read on to learn how.

So as a doctor Simon’s Girlfriend learned something concrete en route to an MD. She amassed a set of right answers and hard skills. The human body is the human body. Nobody can take that away. I on the other hand learned how to “think like a lawyer.” I amassed a set of questions with no answers and a set of soft skills. The law is an ever changing cancerous organism that is whatever flawed human beings in the form of judges, politicians, and the lobbyists and corporations that own them says it is…but my JD is a paper requirement for sitting for the bar exam and entry into the profession. By weeding out individuals who could not afford to acquire this credential the market for attorneys is kept small. Of course with the rise of student debt more individuals are acquiring this credential despite the fact they can’t afford it and hence we have a major factor in the collapse of the legal market.

I do not mean to dump on lawyers (or exalt doctors). I also do not mean to limit the discourse to comparing these two specific professions. I am just laying out a method of analysis based on the simple fact that markets change and real expertise will always have value.

Also I am not saying one shouldn’t earn market driven credentials. I am just saying you have to be smarter about it and generally less willing to come out of pocket or borrow for such credentials. There is a reason Executive MBAs are so popular. Firms tend to pay for them.

So that’s the lesson kids. Hopefully it will lead to smarter decisions. I know this isn’t as entertaining as a Mike Triforce diatribe about some recent debauchery but I promise KF Li will get into his own fair amount of trouble.