General question and help

[Makati2008]

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I am currently accepted into medical school for the class of 2010 at this time. My job has offered to pay for a chunk of the expenses. So far they have said they will pay for the following items:
1.)Health insurance
2.)Tuition and fees(I have no ideal up to what point but I am going to push at least for 3/4)
3.)Possible stipend.

These things have been the agreed upon areas so far. I don't want to seem greedy and those things seem more than enough. Is there anythings I am missing?(Also I know the contract will be 1 for 1 in service I may asked them to increase it up to 1.25(years I will give them service):1(year of support) if there are other things I have to ask them to supply me with. Also is it unreasonable to ask for a clause in this contract that I be able to go back to this facility and work as a Physician Assistant to forgive this debt as well. This area is a VERY rural part of Texas and not a lot of MLP,MD/DO's in the area currently.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[nontrdgsbuiucmd]

unclear on a few things:

-what will your salary be? If you're agreeing to take a 80K pay reduction as a physician in return for 40K worth of benefits on a 1 year to 1 year basis, that seems a poor tradeoff.
-regarding "going back as a PA to pay off this debt", does that mean you're a PA now and you'd be going back over winter break and summer between MS1 and MS2? Weekends? whatever you negotiate, it seems important to discuss how many hours you'd work as a PA and the salary per hour. Seems messy to try to include this in the negotiations regarding their paying for your med school -- I'd suggest discussing your working there (if you really want to) and being paid the going rate per hour. Or, if this location is distant from your school, it may make more sense to work nearer med school on weekends or whenever?

 

[sgtbrushes]

I'm not going to tell you not to do this, but is there a reason you can't take loans? Do you just prefer to have a service obligation? The reason I ask, as nontrd suggested, is not just obligated years of service, but lost income. Also, I'm assuming your service commitment will be fulfilled after residency (as opposed to military service, which can be before residency). I know the huge sums of money you will be taking out in loans isn't a very nice picture, but it may actually be financially viable compared to a service obligation, depending on how much money the pay you during med school and during your service repayment.

As far as the PA question, I don't know what to say. I personally am going to want summers/ breaks off to mentally recover from med school, or to have time to find a research spot, etc., etc.

 

[dragonfly99]

Here is a 2nd to the above comment.
You need to be very careful before you sign a service commitment. If you are 100% sure that you want to work there after med school, then fine, but realize that you are basically signing away 4-5 years of your life. If you are going to a state medical school, particularly (like Tx or Florida) it might make sense to just take out loans. Particularly if you are able to do any work (as a PA?) between 1st and 2nd years of med school, you may do better by just paying your own way with loans and having the piece of mind that comes with that. However, if you are 100% sure you want to work in this town at this particular hospital later, then signing on to have your expenses paid might be a good deal for you. I mean, if you are married already with friends and family there, and know you want to live there, it might be O.K. You might want to get an attorney experienced in contract law to look at whatever deal you sign on for, before you sign it.