Doctoral debt

[erg923]

Cara Susanna,

As usual, your brilliance astounds me.

You truly are a brilliant graduate student. You have no clue as to how doctors in general feel about a public option - citing a poll from a conservative pharmaceutical front organization means nothing, but again.........you do seem to know everything.

I find your certainty about everything so exciting. The public option and US healthcare overhaul have been discussed in several forums, with Cara Susanna and a few others presenting there usual, certain views. I recommend taking all such certain viewpoints with a grain of salt, in spite of (or perhaps due to) there brilliant certainty. My suggestion - stick to the supposed certainty (I know- I've used 'certainty' too many times) you have found regarding the cognitive functioning of your client (via use of a WAIS) and leave other matters to those who have actually taken some time to at least understand the healthcare situation from more than one pre-determined angle.

Lets take cara out of this for moment. How do you think statments like this reflect on you?

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[Therapist4Chnge]

Agreed. I merely was expounding on the realities of what I have heard proposed, not what should be. I have yet to hear anyone seriously proposing reimbursement increases. Good luck fighting for that one. The general consensus in the public is that we're all over-paid, and the public makes little distinction based on what the professional title is as long as your name starts with "Dr."

Unfortunately the horse left the barn on the degredation of reimbursements, thank you HMOs. No elected official would dare support increasing reimbursements because that would translate (fairly or unfairly)to "raising costs" for his/her constituants. That leaves a smaller pie to fight over, and little motivation for the best and brightest to stick around for that fight. It is sad that someone could go through all of this training and have to fight for every dollar.

 

[erg923]

Just an interesting tidbit/follow-up on having to fight for every dollar......

A message was posted on the npsych list server yesterday about an insurance company that told a clincian that "neuropsychologists cannot be reimbursed for neuropsych assessment". There are apparently 8 types of providers...neuropsychologist not being one of them. .....Um yea.....

 

[RGMSU]

Unfortunately the horse left the barn on the degredation of reimbursements, thank you HMOs. No elected official would dare support increasing reimbursements because that would translate (fairly or unfairly)to "raising costs" for his/her constituants. That leaves a smaller pie to fight over, and little motivation for the best and brightest to stick around for that fight. It is sad that someone could go through all of this training and have to fight for every dollar.

To some extent this is true. On the other hand, I don't think physicians are exactly helpless in the situation. With shortages, there will always be some people who demand premium services and are willing to pay a price for it. There will always be physicians to step in for those people. Physicians will just adjust who they choose to treat based on reimbursement modes, and physicians will use their credentials to convince those that they choose to treat that they're worth the extra money. Medical school still attracts the best and the brightest, contrary to some peoples' opinions, because I see some amazingly bright people in my class. I don't think we're all dumb enough to just roll over for whoever wants to kick us next. Society needs us, whether they want to admit it or not. And, they can't just replace us at the drop of a hat. So, we have more bargaining power than we realize sometimes, I think. We just don't exercise it properly. Business students and lawyers, on the other hand, are a dime a dozen. So, why we've chosen to kowtow to them, I'll never understand. It's time for providers to band together, realize what they have in common, and fight against the outside forces rather than amongst each other.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I'm bumping this thread because it has some good information on loan repayment (if you ignore the slight detour in the last 6-7 posts). I think it is important to understand what is out there, especially considering the debt loads many people are experiencing (from funded/underfunded/unfunded programs).

I want to point out that it is REALLY important to know the requirements for the programs while you are still in graduate school because choices you make then will effect you years later when you apply for a repayment program. In particular, securing an internship placement that meets the standards, as some programs can be very stringent about that. Plan now and succeed later.

 

[AlaskanJustin]

I'm bumping this thread because it has some good information on loan repayment (if you ignore the slight detour in the last 6-7 posts). I think it is important to understand what is out there, especially considering the debt loads many people are experiencing (from funded/underfunded/unfunded programs).

I want to point out that it is REALLY important to know the requirements for the programs while you are still in graduate school because choices you make then will effect you years later when you apply for a repayment program. In particular, securing an internship placement that meets the standards, as some programs can be very stringent about that. Plan now and succeed later.

Good call... I think everyone needs to inform themselves not just about HOW consolidation etc works but also what can be done to decrease the amount of debt... I am going into grad school with a little under 100K and expect to add a little more... but I am ok with it because both State and Federal government agencies offer phenomenal loan reimbursement programs that would kill most if not all debt...

Good call T4C!