How do you afford a family and med school?

[Pemulis]

I?m really considering changing careers and heading off to med school. From an academic perspective, I have every confidence that if I pursue this I will succeed. But I have a huge concern regarding the financial and familial aspects that this change will bring.

A little background: I?m 28, and worked in IT from the time I was 23 until last year, when I decided it would be a good move to go off to grad school and get a degree in computer science. In just four months I will finish that off and get my master?s?along with about 30 grand in debt (fortunately, I don?t have any debt from my undergrad years). After that, I will be getting married. In a few more years (3-5, probably), my fianc? and I hope to start a family.

I don?t have any of the pre-reqs for med school down, so if I started a post-bac after graduation, that would be another 1-2 years of school, and more debt. Then of course comes med school (lucky me, I live in PA, so there is no ?cheap? state school that I could go to for that), and residency. So I?d probably be at least 35 before I start earning a wage again (a pauper?s wage, that is), and then something like 38 or 40 before I could earn any decent money.

To be clear: my interest in medicine has nothing to do with making money, and I am perfectly content to live in a modest home and drive a used Toyota the rest of my life. But I am really concerned that if I go this route, it will negatively impact our ability to have kids (my fianc? doesn?t earn a lot of money, and even if she did, we both really want her to be able to take some time off when our kids are young), and that I?ll be too wrapped up in med school and residency to be a good father or husband.

I feel like in the long run, assuming nothing disastrous, the money I earn as a physician will enable me to pay back the loans incurred, but I?m not sure if I can survive the ten years it will take me to get to that point.

Has anybody been through a similar situation, or know of people who have? Is there any way to get through this ordeal without going bankrupt? Does anybody have experience parenting young children while in med school or residency, especially if your spouse is not working?

Thanks.

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[mpp]

Plenty... www.oldpremeds.org

 

[DWP DO]

I?m really considering changing careers and heading off to med school. From an academic perspective, I have every confidence that if I pursue this I will succeed. But I have a huge concern regarding the financial and familial aspects that this change will bring.

A little background: I?m 28, and worked in IT from the time I was 23 until last year, when I decided it would be a good move to go off to grad school and get a degree in computer science. In just four months I will finish that off and get my master?s?along with about 30 grand in debt (fortunately, I don?t have any debt from my undergrad years). After that, I will be getting married. In a few more years (3-5, probably), my fianc? and I hope to start a family.

I don?t have any of the pre-reqs for med school down, so if I started a post-bac after graduation, that would be another 1-2 years of school, and more debt. Then of course comes med school (lucky me, I live in PA, so there is no ?cheap? state school that I could go to for that), and residency. So I?d probably be at least 35 before I start earning a wage again (a pauper?s wage, that is), and then something like 38 or 40 before I could earn any decent money.

To be clear: my interest in medicine has nothing to do with making money, and I am perfectly content to live in a modest home and drive a used Toyota the rest of my life. But I am really concerned that if I go this route, it will negatively impact our ability to have kids (my fianc? doesn?t earn a lot of money, and even if she did, we both really want her to be able to take some time off when our kids are young), and that I?ll be too wrapped up in med school and residency to be a good father or husband.

I feel like in the long run, assuming nothing disastrous, the money I earn as a physician will enable me to pay back the loans incurred, but I?m not sure if I can survive the ten years it will take me to get to that point.

Has anybody been through a similar situation, or know of people who have? Is there any way to get through this ordeal without going bankrupt? Does anybody have experience parenting young children while in med school or residency, especially if your spouse is not working?

Thanks.

Your story sounds similar to mine. By the time I started medical school I was almost 32 years old, married with six children and a previous career as an aviator and meteorologist. I was able to do it financially through a creative combination of a military (HPSP) scholarship and student loans. The money I borrowed all went to provide for indirect education expenses (living expenses) rather than tuition, fees, and books. Where we differ is that I had my pre-med coursework done many years before, but I still had to take the MCAT, which in addition to the financing was one of the biggest obstacles to overcome not having taken that coursework in many years-you won't have that problem. Bottom line is: With sufficient determination, perserverance, and creativity it is possible to accomplish your dreams no matter how difficult it seems. As for future income, you will make more money than you have ever earned before. My spouse chose to stay home with our kids too. Best wishes.

 

[GeneGoddess]

Umm, you budget. That sounds trite, but it's true. I'm an MD/PhD, so I've been earning a pauper's wage for quite some time. Granted, med school is "free", but I won't graduate until I'm 31 with some minimal debt. I was living on $12K/year and still managed to get by just fine. I'm now married (to a grad student) and together we've bought a condo and two new vehicles...all on a student's stipend (he's a PhD student). It's possible to do.

 

[A.D.O.R.]

Umm, you budget. That sounds trite, but it's true. I'm an MD/PhD, so I've been earning a pauper's wage for quite some time. Granted, med school is "free", but I won't graduate until I'm 31 with some minimal debt. I was living on $12K/year and still managed to get by just fine. I'm now married (to a grad student) and together we've bought a condo and two new vehicles...all on a student's stipend (he's a PhD student). It's possible to do.

Do you have any kids? What about non-medical school graduate or post-bac debt, etc? I think those are the OP's primary concerns.


Re: affording school, I think one of the above posters brought up a good point about the military scholarship. If you don't want to go that route I suggest applying to cheap state schools where you can become a resident after a year. Unless you're interested in a competitive specialty, it doesn't really matter where you get your M.D.

 

[GeneGoddess]

Do you have any kids? What about non-medical school graduate or post-bac debt, etc? I think those are the OP's primary concerns.

No, we don't, but we will soon after graduation, when we'll be paying off a huge amount of student loan debt (husband paid for his BS, MS, and PhD on his own) and I'll be a resident and he'll be a post-doc making maybe $70K combined. BUT, some friends of ours were a two grad student family with two kids. They worked shifts in the lab (she worked 4am-1pm and he worked 1pm-10pm or so) because they couldn't afford daycare. There are several grad students I know who live with kids on only their $20K student stipend (the spouse doesn't work or, in one case, the student is a single mom). I've seen some medical student classmates go through the same thing. You just learn to live on less money. With out without kids, if you have a small income, you budget for it

 

[chjubilee]

Relax,
My family and I made it. I had my first child just before the start of my second year. I took a year off. Had my second child in my second year, and my third child pgy1. I did not take the military route. Graduated from one of the expensive private schools.(No financial aid.) My husband quite his job to stays at home with our children after the birth of the 2nd child. And we are fine. Yes there were some tight years, but we kept things in perspective and have made it work. So can you.

How do you afford it? Decide what you can live without, cut it from the budget and take out loans to cover what you income can't. Eventually, with good financial planning, you will beat the debt.

 

[RV_CP]

Umm, you budget. That sounds trite, but it's true. I'm an MD/PhD, so I've been earning a pauper's wage for quite some time. Granted, med school is "free", but I won't graduate until I'm 31 with some minimal debt. I was living on $12K/year and still managed to get by just fine. I'm now married (to a grad student) and together we've bought a condo and two new vehicles...all on a student's stipend (he's a PhD student). It's possible to do.

Hi. I'm not even sure if you're still on here it's been so long. But I just joined SDN specifically so I can talk to you if possible (so I'm also new to SDN). I'm not sure where you're at in your career now, but if I'm reading things right, you were an MD/PhD student recently married to a PhD student and were planning on having children when you both graduated. If I'm right, you wrote this post more than 10 years ago? I'm interested because I am exactly where you were. I am a MD/PhD student (1st year in the PhD program) and just married a PhD student. We are in fact thinking about children. Since you are now 10 years to my future, any advice? any "if I only knew back then" stories? My husband and I are thinking of children now because we both have extremely understanding PIs. How would baby / prenatal healthcare work? finances?

 

[68PGunner]

It's possible. It is called getting a full ride to go to undergrad and med school for free without any conditions attached. I got paid to go to undergrad for free. I will be doing the same for medical school. Any loan taken during medical school years is more of a strategic move in order to take advantage of loan forgiveness.