how easy is it to pay off your med school loans?

[titan]

Let's say you pay $25000-30000 a year in tuition and $12000 in living expenses. If all you use are loans, will this prove very cumbersome in the future or is $150,000 in loans payed off with relative ease as a doctor? Thanks.

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[Diane L. Evans]

After 4 years of medical school and one year of internship you enter residency which pays about 30-40K, you keep this salary for 3-7 years depending on speciality. During this time the $150K of loans have now multiplied into $300K which takes most doc's 10-15yrs to pay off. The monthly payment is between $800-1200 depending on if you paid interest while in school or defered it. Because of this burden I would urge you to consider National Health Service Corps (NHSC) or Military Scholarships that pay for all 4 years of medical school plus offer stipends of $1100/mo. This substancially cuts down on needed loans. I am a NHSC scholar and have only needed to take out minimal additional loans.
Diane

 

[Atlas]

Diane,

Sorry but I'm gonna have to respectfully disagree with you. I've never heard of a physician in $300k worth of debt. That's an outrageous figure. 200k is more like it. Also, many of the monthly repayment plans that I've been quoted have been anywhere around $1,500-$3,000/mo for 10 to 15 years. That's my 2 cents.

 

[Diane L. Evans]

Thank Atlas for the update. $300K is the estimated amount of payback with interest I was refering to not the actual sum borrowed. Especially with new loans not being fixed at 6%, the interest adds significantly to the payback.

 

[DO/MBA]

At the current interest rate and the approximate cap of stafford loans, the amount borrowed per year is a maximum of 38,500 (stafford only). Calculating all varibles including such mundane things as subsidized vs. unsubsidized and applying for a reprieve of 12 months and the grace periods of 6 and 9 months. You will be paying back about 2,250 per month for ten years with interest compounding monthly.