Can I go into a specialty with a Primary Care Loan Program?

[Helkar3]

Hi, I'm thinking about getting a Primary Care Loan Program. I want to become a pediatrician, but after my residency for peds, I want to do a kidney fellowship. Is it possible to do the kidney fellowship and still stay in compliance with the program?

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[thesauce]

Hi, I'm thinking about getting a Primary Care Loan Program. I want to become a pediatrician, but after my residency as peds, I want to do a kidney fellowship. It it possible to do the kidney fellowship and still stay in compliance with the program?

Yes, you can do a renal fellowship after you've fulfilled your service obligation.

 

[tabascosauce]

Yes, you can do a renal fellowship after you've fulfilled your service obligation.

👍

 

[Helkar3]

Yes but, do i have to wait 10years or so to finish paying back my loan before i can go into a renal fellowship?

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

From the website as examples of acceptable and non:

PRIMARY HEALTH CARE
ACCEPTABLE
Clinical Preventive Medicine
Occupational Medicine
Public Health
Public Policy Fellowship
Senior Residencies in one of the above
Faculty administrators / policy makers certified
in one of the primary health care disciplines
Geriatrics
Adolescent Medicine
Adolescent Pediatrics
Sports Medicine

NON-PRIMARY HEALTH CARE
NON-ACCEPTABLE
Cardiology
Gastroenterology
Obstetrics/Gynecology
Surgery
Dermatology
Radiology
Rehabilitation Medicine
Psychiatry
Emergency Medicine

So in short, no I don't think you could do a renal fellowship while you're paying back your loans, since it would probably be considered to be on the same level of specialization as cardiology.

A better bet might be to try to get a NHSC scholarship, so your obligation will only be 4 years in a health shortage area. After you're done with that you can do whatever you want. You could also just wait until you're done with school and then work in a shortage area using the NHSC loan repayment program. That way you don't lock yourself in to a field before you're even in school.

 

[MCAT guy]

Hi, I'm thinking about getting a Primary Care Loan Program. I want to become a pediatrician, but after my residency for peds, I want to do a kidney fellowship. Is it possible to do the kidney fellowship and still stay in compliance with the program?

Rule #1, never sign up for anything that requires a 3-4 year commitment without knowledge of what you're signing up for.

I.e. the time to sign up for primary care loans is after you've done your PC rotations...

Food for thought!

 

[MCAT guy]

From the website as examples of acceptable and non:

PRIMARY HEALTH CARE
ACCEPTABLE
Clinical Preventive Medicine
Occupational Medicine
Public Health
Public Policy Fellowship
Senior Residencies in one of the above
Faculty administrators / policy makers certified
in one of the primary health care disciplines
Geriatrics
Adolescent Medicine
Adolescent Pediatrics
Sports Medicine

NON-PRIMARY HEALTH CARE
NON-ACCEPTABLE
Cardiology
Gastroenterology
Obstetrics/Gynecology
Surgery
Dermatology
Radiology
Rehabilitation Medicine
Psychiatry
Emergency Medicine

So in short, no I don't think you could do a renal fellowship while you're paying back your loans, since it would probably be considered to be on the same level of specialization as cardiology.

A better bet might be to try to get a NHSC scholarship, so your obligation will only be 4 years in a health shortage area. After you're done with that you can do whatever you want. You could also just wait until you're done with school and then work in a shortage area using the NHSC loan repayment program. That way you don't lock yourself in to a field before you're even in school.

😱

 

[thesauce]

Yes but, do i have to wait 10years or so to finish paying back my loan before i can go into a renal fellowship?

10 years? I thought it was 2-4.

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

Sorry I worded that badly. What I meant was, if you keep the loan repayment program in mind, you can decide at the end of medical school if you want to take the loan repayment program or not. Of course, if you're counting on it then you'll have to commit, but in that case why not just apply for the scholarship anyway at the beginning of school? Sorry if that was unclear.

 

[Helkar3]

Rumor has it that med loans takes many many years to repay. IF i take a loan out from PCL, should it also takes many many years to repay? Also, I don't want to work for 3-6years whatever time it maybe for me to repay my loans before I go into my fellowship.

 

[smq123]

10 years? I thought it was 2-4.

This is the confusing part.

For Primary Care scholarships, you pay them back 1 year of service for each year of scholarship that you received.

For the Primary Care loans that the OP is referring to, it's basically like any other loan program, except your interest rate is lower. You have to stay in primary care until you've finished paying back the loan - which can take more than 4 years.

The Primary Care loans kind of seem like a bum deal to me. I don't really see the advantage that they offer over traditional loans, but maybe I'm just missing something.

 

[Helkar3]

Ah fk the PCL. I'm just ***** myself at the corner 1 street and main st.

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

The Primary Care loans kind of seem like a bum deal to me. I don't really see the advantage that they offer over traditional loans, but maybe I'm just missing something.

It is a bum deal. The only advantages are that the interest rate is fixed at 5% instead of 6.8% for Staffords and interest doesn't start accumulating until after school so you miss out on 4 years of interest. You save money but not that much considering you're locked into a field until you pay it off. The scholarships or loan repayment programs are way better deals.

 

[mrbuttersworth]

This is always an option...:

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF): CCRAA authorizes a new "public service" loan forgiveness program, effective July 1, 2009. Physicians will be eligible for the program after 10 years of loan repayment while practicing in a "public service" job. The definition of "public service" includes 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations, faculty in "high-needs areas (as determined by the Secretary of Education), and service at private organizations providing "public health" or "emergency management" services. HEAO clarifies the definition of public health to include "full-time professionals engaged in health care practitioner occupations and health care support occupations, as such terms are defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics." Only Direct Loans are eligible for forgiveness, but borrowers may consolidate other federal loans under a single Direct Consolidation Loan. Physicians that participate in IBR could save over $160,000 on their total loan repayment.

-From
https://www.aamc.org/advocacy/meded/79048/student_loan_repayment.html

 

[nickmx50]

Rule #1, never sign up for anything that requires a 3-4 year commitment without knowledge of what you're signing up for.

I.e. the time to sign up for primary care loans is after you've done your PC rotations...

Food for thought!

No doubt. If you find out you love some other specialty more than pediatric nephrology, than you are really screwed. Some of those programs can charge you like 3 times the balance.

 

[smq123]

No doubt. If you find out you love some other specialty more than pediatric nephrology, than you are really screwed. Some of those programs can charge you like 3 times the balance.

Specifically, 3 times the balance PLUS all the back-interest that would have accrued from when you were first given the scholarship.

 

[MCAT guy]

Specifically, 3 times the balance PLUS all the back-interest that would have accrued from when you were first given the scholarship.

Robbery in progress...

 

[cbrons]

From the website as examples of acceptable and non:

PRIMARY HEALTH CARE
ACCEPTABLE
Clinical Preventive Medicine
Occupational Medicine
Public Health
Public Policy Fellowship
Senior Residencies in one of the above
Faculty administrators / policy makers certified
in one of the primary health care disciplines
Geriatrics
Adolescent Medicine
Adolescent Pediatrics
Sports Medicine

NON-PRIMARY HEALTH CARE
NON-ACCEPTABLE
Cardiology
Gastroenterology
Obstetrics/Gynecology
Surgery
Dermatology
Radiology
Rehabilitation Medicine
Psychiatry
Emergency Medicine

So in short, no I don't think you could do a renal fellowship while you're paying back your loans, since it would probably be considered to be on the same level of specialization as cardiology.

A better bet might be to try to get a NHSC scholarship, so your obligation will only be 4 years in a health shortage area. After you're done with that you can do whatever you want. You could also just wait until you're done with school and then work in a shortage area using the NHSC loan repayment program. That way you don't lock yourself in to a field before you're even in school.

This list is ridiculous and inaccurate. There are certain programs you can apply to for help with loans so long as you agree to rural practice. In many cases, EM, OB, GenSurg and Psych are all acceptable specialties and needed badly in rural areas. In the area where I'm at, there also trying very hard to find hospitalists and a urologist. So don't take that list as gospel.

You should always check with the people paying for your tuition what sort of specialties are acceptable as it will differ from community to community.

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

This list is ridiculous and inaccurate....You should always check with the people paying for your tuition what sort of specialties are acceptable as it will differ from community to community.

Great advice except this list was taken directly from the loan website:

http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/dsa/pcl.htm

You should always check to make sure you know what you're talking about before you post

 

[thesauce]

This is the confusing part.

For Primary Care scholarships, you pay them back 1 year of service for each year of scholarship that you received.

For the Primary Care loans that the OP is referring to, it's basically like any other loan program, except your interest rate is lower. You have to stay in primary care until you've finished paying back the loan - which can take more than 4 years.

The Primary Care loans kind of seem like a bum deal to me. I don't really see the advantage that they offer over traditional loans, but maybe I'm just missing something.

Woops. Thanks for clarifying.