I know three people who have done a phd. One quit in the last year and the other two said the last year was the hardest they have ever worked. However they were

I know three people who have done a phd. One quit in the last year and the other two said the last year was the hardest they have ever worked. However they were all in the humanities rather than the sciences. They said it's what you should do to work in academia as a career. Note that a great many good university teachers and researchers are doing part time PhDs instead of getting their doctorate first. I've considered it but the last year was hell for them and I don't want to do that, neither do I want to be in academia as a career.