Grant information?

[mydodger]

I'm married and working as Chemical Engineer and will have been working for a year at the time I enter med school (fall 09). My wife and I are truly financially independent, we don't get any money from our parents to help us live on. In fact I alone make more now than both of my parents combined. My wife will be going back to finish her undergrad and pursue a PhD in English or Renaissance Literature (if they'll let her). We'll both be in school and not working.

Does anyone know of any grants that we would be eligible to apply for, or if there are any websites or other places that I could find information on grants? I've searched the forums but I can't find what I'm looking for (too many people use the term "grant" in too many threads to make any searches I attempt useful).

The school that I will be attending only offers 1 scholarship per year, so my chances of getting that are slim. I've already got about $10,000 in undergrad debt and I'd like to minimize the additional debt I'll incur. I doubt I'll be able to repay the $10,000 this year - as it turns out starting life on your own is pretty expensive, and I'd like to save some for a tablet pc for medical school.

I tend to ramble. The important part is bold and italicized.

[Habeed]

Grants have to come from somewhere, and so the grant issuer has to have some reason to give it. Given the fact that med schools seats have always filled for at least 30 years, there is are limited reasons, in general, for someone to subsidize a person going to medical school.

Thus, the various subsidies almost always have strings attached.

Elite med schools offer grant type financial aid in order to attract 'higher quality' students.

Minorities get grants because there are few of them in med school. (well, of certain minorities groups)

Phd/MD students get grants in return for 3-4 years of your life given up doing research, and to encourage more scientists.

The military gives grants to get more doctors into uniform. Same deal with Indian Health Service.

State med schools give grants to make it easier for residents of their state to become doctors. (well, in practice they do)

What I am getting at is....why do you deserve a grant? What are you giving up? What are you doing for the med school or some other organization that they see as valuble? If you are a white or asian male who will do private practice, the organization has no reason to give you money.

Don't get me wrong : the simple truth might be that statistically, you may have a chance of being a better physician that does more for people than the groups that institutions choose to fund. Private practice can be efficient.

But the rules are what they are.

[dragonfly99]

what he said.

Although I disagree with the general tenor/tone of the above post which suggests that women and underrepresented minorities are basically getting an easy time/free ride. I personally am female and I paid my way through med school...nobody was rolling out the red carpet for me, nor gave me any scholarships. With rare exceptions (a few academic scholarships, a few for underrepresented minorities, a very few for women applicants at a few schools) most students pay their own way through med school.

My advice would be to use one of those online scholarship finder sites...I don't know the names of any but your undergrad/college might be able to point you in the right direction.

It would be good to pay off as much of your outstanding student loans as you ca before starting med school. Your wife may want to get a job also, at least for now, if she can make time.

[Habeed]

reading my post, I realize that my "tone" comes out wrong.

What I meant was, institutions choose to give grants based upon criteria that are probably not a cold calculation of who would make the most productive and effective doctors.