Loans through a hospital?

[RNtoPhysician]

I was accepted for a scholarship program where I get a one time scholarship of $1000. There are other benefits to the program and one of them is a loan forgiveness offer where the hospital will provide up to $60,000 (max of $12,000 in a year) in loans as long as I come back and work at the hospital as an attending for five years. I know this comes at a cost because if I didn't come back and work at this hospital then it would have to be paid back in a lump sum, I believe. The interest rate would likely stay competitive as it is currently at 3% for students that borrow. A main reason I am considering doing this is that I have already worked at this organization for three years as a nurse and have enjoyed it. My family and I have loved this area and would most likely strongly consider coming back to this area because of family in the surrounding area and we like the healthcare settings that are available in this area. What do you all think? I am just trying to get different perspectives because a friend who is an FM resident said to be leery of the offer because I am not sure where I will want to practice when I am done. To me, five years doesn't seem that long in an organization that I am already familar with

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[DoctwoB]

I was accepted for a scholarship program where I get a one time scholarship of $1000. There are other benefits to the program and one of them is a loan forgiveness offer where the hospital will provide up to $60,000 (max of $12,000 in a year) in loans as long as I come back and work at the hospital as an attending for five years. I know this comes at a cost because if I didn't come back and work at this hospital then it would have to be paid back in a lump sum, I believe. The interest rate would likely stay competitive as it is currently at 3% for students that borrow. A main reason I am considering doing this is that I have already worked at this organization for three years as a nurse and have enjoyed it. My family and I have loved this area and would most likely strongly consider coming back to this area because of family in the surrounding area and we like the healthcare settings that are available in this area. What do you all think? I am just trying to get different perspectives because a friend who is an FM resident said to be leery of the offer because I am not sure where I will want to practice when I am done. To me, five years doesn't seem that long in an organization that I am already familar with

The “lump sum” repayment is a problem. If it was just you had to pay the money back at a reasonable interest rate over X years then not a big deal. But imagine this. You’ve just graduated residency. Due to unforeseen personal circumstances (new spouse, family moved etc) you now want to go elsewhere and so will owe back 80k. You’re a freshly graduated resident with 5k in the bank; and unlike federal student loans which you can be on an IBR program for, you’d have to turn to high interest personal loans to pay this lump sum back, saddling you with a lot of high interest debt to start your career.

 

[ACSurgeon]

I was accepted for a scholarship program where I get a one time scholarship of $1000. There are other benefits to the program and one of them is a loan forgiveness offer where the hospital will provide up to $60,000 (max of $12,000 in a year) in loans as long as I come back and work at the hospital as an attending for five years. I know this comes at a cost because if I didn't come back and work at this hospital then it would have to be paid back in a lump sum, I believe. The interest rate would likely stay competitive as it is currently at 3% for students that borrow. A main reason I am considering doing this is that I have already worked at this organization for three years as a nurse and have enjoyed it. My family and I have loved this area and would most likely strongly consider coming back to this area because of family in the surrounding area and we like the healthcare settings that are available in this area. What do you all think? I am just trying to get different perspectives because a friend who is an FM resident said to be leery of the offer because I am not sure where I will want to practice when I am done. To me, five years doesn't seem that long in an organization that I am already familar with

The “lump sum” repayment is a problem. If it was just you had to pay the money back at a reasonable interest rate over X years then not a big deal. But imagine this. You’ve just graduated residency. Due to unforeseen personal circumstances (new spouse, family moved etc) you now want to go elsewhere and so will owe back 80k. You’re a freshly graduated resident with 5k in the bank; and unlike federal student loans which you can be on an IBR program for, you’d have to turn to high interest personal loans to pay this lump sum back, saddling you with a lot of high interest debt to start your career.

I was accepted for a scholarship program where I get a one time scholarship of $1000. There are other benefits to the program and one of them is a loan forgiveness offer where the hospital will provide up to $60,000 (max of $12,000 in a year) in loans as long as I come back and work at the hospital as an attending for five years. I know this comes at a cost because if I didn't come back and work at this hospital then it would have to be paid back in a lump sum, I believe. The interest rate would likely stay competitive as it is currently at 3% for students that borrow. A main reason I am considering doing this is that I have already worked at this organization for three years as a nurse and have enjoyed it. My family and I have loved this area and would most likely strongly consider coming back to this area because of family in the surrounding area and we like the healthcare settings that are available in this area. What do you all think? I am just trying to get different perspectives because a friend who is an FM resident said to be leery of the offer because I am not sure where I will want to practice when I am done. To me, five years doesn't seem that long in an organization that I am already familar with

48k (12/year x4) is such little money in the grand scheme of things that it’s not worth being locked in anywhere.

People will caution you about a full ride that requires 5 years commitment afterwards.

Finally, 5 years for a 21 year old is not a of time. However, 5 years after 10 years of school and training is a lot of time.

 

[calivianya]

$60k is such a drop in the bucket. As someone who took out full loans for all four years, that's literally 13% of my total loan amount. I wouldn't lock myself in anywhere for anything less than full repayment, tbh, and even then I'd think pretty hard about it.

You can end up changing your mind. I also worked before med school and "knew" what I was going to do... and still changed my mind on specialty and location. It's all different observing in a different role vs. doing things as a med student... which is still different than doing things as a full physician.

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

48k (12/year x4) is such little money in the grand scheme of things that it’s not worth being locked in anywhere.

People will caution you about a full ride that requires 5 years commitment afterwards.

Finally, 5 years for a 21 year old is not a of time. However, 5 years after 10 years of school and training is a lot of time.

Yep. I had residency classmates get.loan repayment like this from their hipitals but it was usually 30-50k/year.

 

[mvenus929]

Check the terms--is this is a scholarship that gets forgiven if you work there (and has to be paid back if you don't), or it is loan repayment--that is, if you work there independent of this program, will they still forgive (a portion of) your loans?

$60K is nothing to sneeze at--it was about 25% of my total loan burden on graduation--but I'm not sure I'd be comfortable being locked into where I want to practice. What if you change your mind on your specialty? What if you want to subspecialize more and they simply aren't hiring what you want to be? If, however, you continue on your current path and do work there after residency graduation, will you still have the same offer available?

You can negotiate for more in your contract when you are starting out as an attending than you can as a medical student--also something to consider.

 

[ACSurgeon]

I don't see how this is a good deal for one simple reason. They are LOCKING in clueless first-year medical students who have the LEAST amount of bargaining power. Also, a lot can change in the meantime (getting married, moving elsewhere, student loan forgiveness, or OP might choose to do a 6-7 year residency and then go for PSLF - which this wouldn't count as a part of). So many variables. We also all know that many hospitals will reimburse $200k+ for primary care. Assuming the salaries are also avg/above average for the area, it's better to wait until OP is an attending to make such decisions.

These offers aren’t meant for med students. It’s meant for hospital staff who want to advance their education while staying part of the organization. A lot of nurses use this to pay for part of NP school. Few educational and training pathways are as intense and unpredictable as medicine. You don’t know where you’ll get into school, which residency you’ll match, which city you’ll go to fellowship etc.