Financial aid definition which seems impossible to answer

[Dr. Let 'er Buck]

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Howdy,

Older non-trad accepted into medical school. I'm at a satellite campus which does not have a financial aide office, so struggling a bit to get this answered.

I have student loans from a previous degree (Paramedic school). They aren't much, but I certainly can't pay them as a med student. I want to put them is a state of forbearance.

Here is a screenshot of the federal form to do this. The sticking point seems to be in how we/they/you define an internship. In medical lingo, an internship is generally fairly well defined. But looking through the questions asked regarding eventual practicing and requirement of a bachelors degree to enter, it appears that being in medical school meets these requirements. Calling the government and loan servers yields no resolution as they can only tell me what the form says. They also clearly don't understand what being in medical school vs being in a residency entails.

So, in the spirit of internet clogging crap, I put this onto the SDN community. Is an internship, as defined by questions 1 through 5 of this form, medical school? Or is it the traditional medical definition of an internship?

This seems to be clear as mud, and I can find no resources which give a definitive answer.

Thanks

 

[JustaDO]

The answer to #1 is no.

 

[Dr. Let 'er Buck]

The answer to #1 is no.

Very helpful. Thank you for the well thought our response. You have brought instant clarity to what seems to be an opaque topic.

 

[Thefutureisbright]

Howdy,

Older non-trad accepted into medical school. I'm at a satellite campus which does not have a financial aide office, so struggling a bit to get this answered.

I have student loans from a previous degree (Paramedic school). They aren't much, but I certainly can't pay them as a med student. I want to put them is a state of forbearance.

Here is a screenshot of the federal form to do this. The sticking point seems to be in how we/they/you define an internship. In medical lingo, an internship is generally fairly well defined. But looking through the questions asked regarding eventual practicing and requirement of a bachelors degree to enter, it appears that being in medical school meets these requirements. Calling the government and loan servers yields no resolution as they can only tell me what the form says. They also clearly don't understand what being in medical school vs being in a residency entails.

So, in the spirit of internet clogging crap, I put this onto the SDN community. Is an internship, as defined by questions 1 through 5 of this form, medical school? Or is it the traditional medical definition of an internship?

View attachment 253183

This seems to be clear as mud, and I can find no resources which give a definitive answer.

Thanks

Based on the questions I don’t think medical school qualifies. Because if you answer question one it should be no and thus you don’t move on to the next questions regardless of Med school fits for the next questions. So if I were to be filling this out I would answer #1 as no and be done. Sorry =(

 

[Thefutureisbright]

Are these federal loans (fasfa)? I believe that my loans (undergrad and grad) will go into automatic forbearance once I take out a new loan for medical school and they are both federal loans.

 

[JustaDO]

Very helpful. Thank you for the well thought our response. You have brought instant clarity to what seems to be an opaque topic.

I didn't know a paragraph is needed to answer a simple common sense question here. If the answer to question #1 is no, the rest of the form is moot.

 

[Dr. Let 'er Buck]

Based on the questions I don’t think medical school qualifies. Because if you answer question one it should be no and thus you don’t move on to the next questions regardless of Med school fits for the next questions. So if I were to be filling this out I would answer #1 as no and be done. Sorry =(

That was kind of my thought.

 

[Dr. Let 'er Buck]

I didn't know a paragraph is needed to answer a simple common sense question here. If the answer to question #1 is no, the rest of the form is moot.

If the answer is no, then correct, the matter is moot. The whole point of my question was regarding the fed definition of "internship". Because the definition is not clearly defined it's difficult to just write everything off. It's a form of due diligence to question that which isn't clear.

We now know YOUR definition of internship and how you view the form. We don't know why you view it that way nor any supporting details, just simply that you choose to answer a question with the absolute minimum of effort.

 

[JustaDO]

If the answer is no, then correct, the matter is moot. The whole point of my question was regarding the fed definition of "internship". Because the definition is not clearly defined it's difficult to just write everything off. It's a form of due diligence to question that which isn't clear.

We now know YOUR definition of internship and how you view the form. We don't know why you view it that way nor any supporting details, just simply that you choose to answer a question with the absolute minimum of effort.

I can see that you have gotten quite worked up over this. I also see that you were very satisfied by someone telling you that "Based on the questions, I don't think medical school qualifies" even though in itself, that doesn't provide you the supporting details you oh so desired, and is the same answer as mine. It is also not my definition of internship, it is just common sense, something you seem to be lacking.

Good luck in medical school / internship / work-study / journeyman training or whatever you want to call it.

 

[HomeSkool]

Simmer down, people.

There are two types of forbearance: mandatory and general. Forbearance during internship/residency is mandatory. That's what the form you've got is for. You're not eligible for that kind of forbearance. However, you are eligible for general forbearance due to financial hardship. That's the route you need to go. The fed doesn't require your lender to grant it, but your lender has only two options: 1. keep the loans in repayment, cause you to default, and ruin you with no benefit to themselves; or 2. grant you general forbearance, allow interest to accrue for a few years, and get a better payout when you're making physician money. Any lender with half a brain is going to go with option #2.

Check this link for details: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/deferment-forbearance

 

[kraskadva]

OP - while it seems like this question has been answered already, apparently more clarity is needed.

The form you have there is useless to you. "Internship/Residency" is what we normally mean by that in the course of medical education. So that's the form you'll be filling out in 4 years, but won't help for med school.

For the loans you have now, there are 2 options. Either:
A) they are federal student loans, in which case they will automatically go into deferral once you matriculate to med school. This is mandatory forbearance. So you would keep making payments up until maybe the first month or two of school, and the deferral begins, then no more payments until after graduation.
B) they are private loans, in which case you should call your lender and ask for income-based general forbearance as HomeSkool suggests