I just realised this thread is four years old!

If you want to feel really uncomfortable about PhDs, I was told on holiday in Jerusalem last year that three out of four of the Einsatzgruupen leaders (part of the German SS in the Second World War) held PhDs (the remaining one was a long served police officer).

One held two PhDs, an Otto Rasch who was known as Dr. Dr. :-(

If you've already one PhD, I don't actually see to point of putting yourself through that kind of stress a second time around (though you will know the score so to speak). A good few instead buid up their publication record then apply for a higher doctorate (i.e. D.Sc. etc.).


Ian (Mackem_Beefy)

Two Phds???? That's wahat i call hiding from the real world - why bother?!

took me a while to see that too! This is from back when I started my (first and probably only) PhD.

Though could be pursuaded to do a D.ClinPsyc but that's not quite the same thing.

Yup, person concerned who revived this must have been trawlling the old threads. They can be an interesting read sometimes when bored.

I have a phd in theatre and will soon be abd in sociology. i am thinking of a third. Curiosity is my impetus.

Here is another one at MIT. She had two. See her profile below.

Hello, I have a PhD in Chemical Engineering (Simulation and design of heterogenous catalytic processes) and a second one in Computer Engineering (Image and Signal Processing) ... the second was always my dream :-)

Yes, I know one guy who has two PhD's. I felt in love with him but but he decided that this relationship is not going to work for us. So I gave up trying to find a relationship. If marriage is not for me and my dream to have a family and kids is not going to happen I decided to change my goals. I want to get PhD now. I'm going to start working on my master's first.

Some days hiding from the real world seems like a rational, sane proposition. I call them weekdays. :-)

Ian

Yes. I have a PhD which was fully funded. After 4 years without a permanent good job, I would do a second well-paid PhD in a more employable subject.

Dr Venkman in the Ghostbusters has two PhDs: one in psychology and one in parapsychology. His colleague Dr Stantz, upon being thrown out of the faculty with Venkman, laments that Venkman has never left college he doesn't understand what it's like on the outside, whereas he has "worked in the private sector - they expect results!"

I have two, which makes me DHP PhD, PhD. I never planned it this way, but no regrets! My first was in cognitive psychology. I studied human vision and visual neuroscience for years, and some of my research had value in the prevention of blindness and diseases of the eye and brain. I was doing ok, but I wanted to expand into things that had even more applied value for people. Also, academic jobs were quite scarce and I had emerging clinical interests in psychology, so I earned a second doctorate 10 years later as I re-specialized in clinical psychology. I was funded pretty well the first time, but the second time around was MUCH less stressful than the first. I think the two doctorates go well together as I study things that integrate both fields, and as I work as a cognitive scientist in a clinical psychology program. In the end, it isn't about the degrees, but about what one can do with the accumulated and combined knowledge and skills. Sure, I was in school for quite a few years (working, I might add). So far so good. My life in THE REAL WORLD is pretty good. I get to work on interesting things in a variety of areas that have value to the world, I get to learn and discover amazing things, I get to teach and train countless amazing students who will themselves make a dent, I get to have all sorts of amazing and intelligent friends and colleagues all over the world, I get to know that I can find good work anywhere in the world, and I get to never be bored. Not bad, and better than if I had stopped at just one mere PhD.... ;-)

Doing two full degrees at Masters or Honours level is quite common. I have done it.
I made a career out of the first degree which lasted around 15 years and then I got bored and went back for a second stab at a new career which required a degree. I am as certain as I can be that this will not be my last degree.
It most certainly will be my last PhD though.

I did PhD in Public Health and I'm currently doing PhD in Environmental and Occupational Health in Taiwan, out of my interest to learn. I must admit, it's a totally new and interesting experience. Some may think it's time wasting but that relatively depends with individual's viewpoint and it's very subjective. Mistake to avoid: Doing it because someone else is doing it.