Expenses to anticipate before starting internship

[humpdebump2006]

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Does anyone know what kind of expenses one should anticipate prior to starting intern year other than moving expenses and how much they are (i.e. licensing fees, etc)? Thanks!

 

[gutonc]

Does anyone know what kind of expenses one should anticipate prior to starting intern year other than moving expenses and how much they are (i.e. licensing fees, etc)? Thanks!

Licensing will depend on the state and program (some places pay for it). If you need to take your own ACLS course, budget for that. Otherwise, you need to give yourself a month or two of living expenses because, depending on where you go, you may not get paid until sometime in August.

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

Moving costs, living expenses, licensing fees. I took almost nothing with me from my old place and just the furniture and the food stockpiles and knick-knacks were $3000. ACLS and that sort of thing was covered by my program. I also needed a few extra thousand to cover rental deposits and living expenses until I got paid in late July/early August. I would budget $5000 just in case, but of course depends on where you're moving and what stuff you will be taking with you from your old place.

 

[dabeags]

Licensing will depend on the state and program (some places pay for it). If you need to take your own ACLS course, budget for that. Otherwise, you need to give yourself a month or two of living expenses because, depending on where you go, you may not get paid until sometime in August.

How much are licensing fees normally? I am trying to budget for our move and just assumed that kind of stuff would be covered by the program.

 

[Raryn]

How much are licensing fees normally? I am trying to budget for our move and just assumed that kind of stuff would be covered by the program.

Varies from state to state depending on where you went to med school (US MD, DO, foreign MD). A US MD in CA, it's $0 for your training permit (which can be good for up to your first two years of residency). A few places might want the full fee up front, up to $800-900, but that's pretty unusual.

 

[caffeinemia]

If you're a plastic surgery resident -- there were these 1500 dollar things called loupes that really f*cked my bottom line.

 

[caffeinemia]

Lot of programs pay for those

Yeahhh. Unfortunately not mine 🙁

 

[Shinkansen]

be careful budgeting at the end of your ms4 year. my program pays once monthly on the last friday of the month. So, no paycheck until the last friday in July means thats quite a stretch from the end of med school until money comes in.

if you are moving cross country (like I did) then prepare to be broke as hell for a while.

 

[eastcoastdr]

Moving costs, living expenses, licensing fees. I took almost nothing with me from my old place and just the furniture and the food stockpiles and knick-knacks were $3000. ACLS and that sort of thing was covered by my program. I also needed a few extra thousand to cover rental deposits and living expenses until I got paid in late July/early August. I would budget $5000 just in case, but of course depends on where you're moving and what stuff you will be taking with you from your old place.

^Yeah that was about right for me. $1500 in rental fees/security deposit/initial rent, $2000 in furniture, mattress, and other apartment stuff, and then another couple thousand to survive the first couple months without a paycheck. I didn't own ANY furniture, only had a little bedding and some kitchen stuff to bring from medical school (which was actually probably in my favor because I didn't have to hire movers). And there's other little things to budget for when moving, such as deposits for cable/electric companies, stockpiling any prescription medications until your health insurance kicks in, etc. Luckily my program paid for ACLS and the liscence. But definitely ask your program if you are responsible for any of those type of things.

Also don't forget to factor in getting a car if you need one and don't already have one. Half of my co-interns had to buy cars the summer before residency started so they have to factor in car payments into their budgets. Luckily I had a car that was already paid off.

 

[swamprat]

I applied for a new credit card with 0% interest until March 2015 and paid it off prob 3 months into residency. There is a lot of unexpected crap related to moving + plain old living that I put on that card. Worked out well..