How is average debt ONLY $150,000 after graduating...

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UAAWolf

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So if you look in the MSAR they show total yearly costs (tuition+living)...then they also show average debt upon graduation. One would think that the total 4 yr debt would just be the yearly x4 right? Nope..they somehow shave off like 80k off that number for many schools for their total debt upon graduation.

I guess my question is how is this possible? Is it that we have some paying $300,000 and other paying nothing cause they are minorities or something?

All I know is I get so excited thinking I may be accepted soon...but then get a little bit sick knowing I will have $250K debt since I'll likely be an OOS...


1) I thought med students get subsidized loans where gov't pays interest?

2) If I go in to cardiology will I be doomed to be poor til I'm 40? (3 yr res...3-5 yr fellowship..all of this at bad salary)

I'm not going into this for the money...but don't blame me for wanting a secure future for myself and family..thx all
 
How do cardiologists not make much money? I'm fairly sure they make bank.

Granted, I'm basing this off the fact that my cardiologist neighbor when I was younger had three expensive cars in his garage, a gigantic house, swimming pool and was constantly buying his kids the coolest things, non-working wife, etc.

Look up salaries. From what I can see, cards makes upper 200s in the beginning, 300s once they're established.
 
UAAWolf said:
So if you look in the MSAR they show total yearly costs (tuition+living)...then they also show average debt upon graduation. One would think that the total 4 yr debt would just be the yearly x4 right? Nope..they somehow shave off like 80k off that number for many schools for their total debt upon graduation.
Click to expand...

Remember, the average debt is for the class that's graduating. Your costs are going to start 4 years of tuition hikes higher.

1) I thought med students get subsidized loans where gov't pays interest?
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You get $8,500 of those a year. The rest of the loans you pay interest on at various high interest rates (6.8% and up).
 
UAAWolf said:
So if you look in the MSAR they show total yearly costs (tuition+living)...then they also show average debt upon graduation. One would think that the total 4 yr debt would just be the yearly x4 right? Nope..they somehow shave off like 80k off that number for many schools for their total debt upon graduation.

I guess my question is how is this possible? Is it that we have some paying $300,000 and other paying nothing cause they are minorities or something?

All I know is I get so excited thinking I may be accepted soon...but then get a little bit sick knowing I will have $250K debt since I'll likely be an OOS...


1) I thought med students get subsidized loans where gov't pays interest?

2) If I go in to cardiology will I be doomed to be poor til I'm 40? (3 yr res...3-5 yr fellowship..all of this at bad salary)

I'm not going into this for the money...but don't blame me for wanting a secure future for myself and family..thx all
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Scholarships: Some students receive scholarships so they may not have much of debt when they graduate.
Help from parents or others: Many students receive help from parents or significant others. Logically this reduces the amount of debt.
 
Besides the ideas that the above post mentions, I think some students borrow from family members, so that debt isn't included. Some have a spouse working that pays some expenses directly. Some came to medicine from another career and saved much of it before matriculating.
 
UAAWolf said:
1) I thought med students get subsidized loans where gov't pays interest?

2) If I go in to cardiology will I be doomed to be poor til I'm 40? (3 yr res...3-5 yr fellowship..all of this at bad salary)
Click to expand...

If you consider what a cardiologist makes a bad salary, you're going into the wrong profession. Secondly, there are a lot of reasons why the average debt for graduating students is lower. On top of what others have said (spouse/family helping with tuition, etc.) some are on military scholarships, some primary care scholarships, you name it.
 
Some are married and have to take out less.
Some have to take out none which draws the average down.

Everyone doesn't graduate with a ton of debt. Mine will be....$60,000 or $70,000 I think.
 
My state school is just under 20K, with total living cost around 40k, so times 4 is close to your average of 150k
 
vin5cent0 said:
How do cardiologists not make much money? I'm fairly sure they make bank.
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He's (she?) talking about residency and fellowship. Attending cardiologists do very well, but residencies start out at ~45K and go up ~2k/year. Fellowships are ~60k. Attending cardiologists probably make 210-360k. Sadly, loan repayment can only be deferred for 1 year I believe, so one can't wait until they are making the big bucks to pay it back.
 
The average debt is low because if you live in a state where they have a state medical school tuition is very reduced compared to private schools (usually state schools don't cost residents any more than $30K/year and that is on the high end, many are lower. Whereas private tuition is usually at least $40k/year).

Everybody (except the people who have parents with really deep pockets) has a significant chunk of debt after medical school. If you don't want to be paying for medical school into your 40s don't go or move to Texas and go to school there... Its been a while since I looked but I'm pretty sure in-state tuition for Texas residents at UTexas is like $10,000/year.

Or you could always forgo medical school, work doing research making $60K/year for the rest of your life. And there is nothing wrong with doing that if its what you want to do.
 
UAAWolf said:
So if you look in the MSAR they show total yearly costs (tuition+living)...then they also show average debt upon graduation. One would think that the total 4 yr debt would just be the yearly x4 right? Nope..they somehow shave off like 80k off that number for many schools for their total debt upon graduation.

I guess my question is how is this possible? Is it that we have some paying $300,000 and other paying nothing cause they are minorities or something?

All I know is I get so excited thinking I may be accepted soon...but then get a little bit sick knowing I will have $250K debt since I'll likely be an OOS...


1) I thought med students get subsidized loans where gov't pays interest?

2) If I go in to cardiology will I be doomed to be poor til I'm 40? (3 yr res...3-5 yr fellowship..all of this at bad salary)

I'm not going into this for the money...but don't blame me for wanting a secure future for myself and family..thx all
Click to expand...

why does it have to be minorities?....😕 Everyone has listed valid reasons for why this is. 150k sounds low to me but there are some school that only cost individuals around 100k. Texas schools have an insanely cheap tuition whereas my STATE school is gonna run me about 34k per year. Then you have some individuals who are lucky enough to have their parents cover tuition, working spouses, md/phd, and other scholarship programs such as committing to work in an underserved area for a few years. Then there are schools like Pritzker who give amazing REAL financial aid/scholarships or whatever (sigh! should've applied)...

yes the training pay isn't that great but you will not be living on the streets as a cardiologist. live wisely when you finish your training and pay back as much of the debt as quickly as possible.
 
MD/PhD students usually get the tuition waived and they get a stipend for living expenses besides.
 
State schools, MD/PhD, rich parents...
 
Some people had a profession before entering med school. I remember somone on SDN working in finance/on Wall Street or something like that before deciding to pursue medicine.
 
shiftingmirage said:
He's (she?) talking about residency and fellowship. Attending cardiologists do very well, but residencies start out at ~45K and go up ~2k/year. Fellowships are ~60k. Attending cardiologists probably make 210-360k. Sadly, loan repayment can only be deferred for 1 year I believe, so one can't wait until they are making the big bucks to pay it back.
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Right -- the OP said it right -- resident and fellowship salaries suck, regardless of the field. You don't make bank until you are an attending, which is many paths can be a decade after med school. And if you ran up a high med school debt, maybe still have some lingering undergrad debt, etc., you are going to be broke for a decade. And if you are paying whatever minimum you are allowed, the interest will grow significantly to the point that it will take the bite out of your income for many years once your decent salary finally kicks in. Physicians do okay over time, but there are a lot of lean years before the delayed gratification kicks in. You do it because you enjoy it, not because it will make you rich.
 
Law2Doc said:
Right -- the OP said it right -- resident and fellowship salaries suck, regardless of the field. You don't make bank until you are an attending, which is many paths can be a decade after med school. And if you ran up a high med school debt, maybe still have some lingering undergrad debt, etc., you are going to be broke for a decade. And if you are paying whatever minimum you are allowed, the interest will grow significantly to the point that it will take the bite out of your income for many years once your decent salary finally kicks in. Physicians do okay over time, but there are a lot of lean years before the delayed gratification kicks in. You do it because you enjoy it, not because it will make you rich.
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Long time no see stranger. I wondered where you have been. So you now are a resident, nice. At least I hope that it is nice. I was curious as to where you are on the food chain.
 
DrYoda said:
You get $8,500 of those a year. The rest of the loans you pay interest on at various high interest rates (6.8% and up).
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Can everyone take these loans, or only those who demonstrate need?
 
correct me if i'm wrong, but what ive heard at interviews is this:

anyone can take out subsidized (0 interest) Stafford loans up to 8500 per year. beyond that, anyone can take out nonsubsidized (6.8% interest) up to 42000 per year.

and then beyond that, you'll have to take out private loans with higher interest rates.

but if you submit fafsa, schools have their own loans and grants that they can get you. however, this requires you to pretty much not be middle class. ie you have to be poor enough where schools actually want to give you money. if youre middle class, schools may deem you to have 'enough' to somehow put yourself through med school (even though you cant, so youll have to take those higher interest loans)
 
At this moment, I am not even thinking about money because having the opportunity to become a physician (to me) is worth more than any $amount. Hopefully I can get into my state school and have reduced tuition.
 
Global Warming said:
At this moment, I am not even thinking about money because having the opportunity to become a physician (to me) is worth more than any $amount. Hopefully I can get into my state school and have reduced tuition.
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Yes that's great I agree...but you HAVE to worry about your future finances IMO so you can provide security for your family...


To not even think about the cost at all is a tad naive...but I get your point.
 
Jolie South said:
You'd be surprised at how many people have Mom and Dad pay out of pocket for everything.
Click to expand...

I know I was.

In order to get those lower average debt figures, you have to take into account the outliers who are paying nothing. You'll find that some of your classmates have mom and pop paying for everything, others will have military or (few)full ride scholarships. Many will be paying near sticker price. Remember statistics? What happens to an average when there are a few outliers? 250 multipled by five but divided by six is 208.3. It isn't unreasonable that one out of six students has someone else paying for school, and the real ratio is likely much higher.
 
UAAWolf said:
Yes that's great I agree...but you HAVE to worry about your future finances IMO so you can provide security for your family...


To not even think about the cost at all is a tad naive...but I get your point.
Click to expand...

*shrug* It's not necessarily naive. You decide something is important to you, and that you're willing to sacrifice whatever it ends up costing you to get there. It's not like we're shooting for something that might not be there- when we finish residency/fellowships, we will all be doctors and there will still be sick people. That's all we need. From there, it's just a matter of how long it takes us to pay back our loans.

I'm with him. I'll take whatever help I can get in the form of grants/low-rate loans/loan-assist programs, but at the end of the day, I'm not letting financial costs affect my decision.
 
aggie08 said:
Some are married and have to take out less.
Some have to take out none which draws the average down.

Everyone doesn't graduate with a ton of debt. Mine will be....$60,000 or $70,000 I think.
Click to expand...

ChiDO said:
1. Parents/Family helping to pay.
2. Military students ($0 debt)
3. Scholarships (barely reduces debt...think I'll have ~$10k saved out of $200k)
Click to expand...

Jolie South said:
You'd be surprised at how many people have Mom and Dad pay out of pocket for everything.
Click to expand...

At most of my interviews I've asked this question, and at ~75% of them the finaid person has stated that they do not include people who have not taken out any loans in this statistic. Some schools do though, so you really have to know what you're looking at. Also, some people might have M&D pay for everything, but borrow the first $8500 in subsidized money anyway to buy a car or something. This would mean that an 8500 gets thrown into a bunch of 200k's and brings the average down.
 
JediZero said:
*shrug* It's not necessarily naive. You decide something is important to you, and that you're willing to sacrifice whatever it ends up costing you to get there. It's not like we're shooting for something that might not be there- when we finish residency/fellowships, we will all be doctors and there will still be sick people. That's all we need. From there, it's just a matter of how long it takes us to pay back our loans.

I'm with him. I'll take whatever help I can get in the form of grants/low-rate loans/loan-assist programs, but at the end of the day, I'm not letting financial costs affect my decision.
Click to expand...

That's great and I know what you mean...but with age you will realize money is important. Not to be rich and drive a beamer...but to have enough money to support your family and send your kids through college...

At some point- medicine becomes not worth the cost
 
UAAWolf said:
That's great and I know what you mean...but with age you will realize money is important. Not to be rich and drive a beamer...but to have enough money to support your family and send your kids through college...

At some point- medicine becomes not worth the cost
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure as a physician you're not going to have a problem supporting your family and paying for college. Even at the $40-50,000/yr salary as a resident/fellow, you're making more than the average American. The 400% bump when you're an attending will also help things along. So by that metric of "living comfortably," there's not a point where medicine isn't worth the cost.
 
b-real said:
I'm pretty sure as a physician you're not going to have a problem supporting your family and paying for college. Even at the $40-50,000/yr salary as a resident/fellow, you're making more than the average American. The 400% bump when you're an attending will also help things along. So by that metric of "living comfortably," there's not a point where medicine isn't worth the cost.
Click to expand...

eh, it depends. If you are a single early 20 something, with no strings attached, then I would say in most cases I'd agree, but take the person who already had career 1, has a spouse, kids, mortgage, collage loans for both spouses, couple of cars, 4 years of grad school with huge amounts of debt, no time for a job while in school, 45k/year for 3 to 10+ years is crap. (obviously salaries will go up each year).

In Chicago, I think I saw that the median income is 38k. So at 40k, you might say, hey, that's better than 50% of the pop, right? Granted, I don't have any personal experience here (I didn't grow up in the city), but I'm willing to bet that most would agree that: they live paycheck to paycheck, most have some form of government aid, they live in bad areas of town where dealers are on the corner, you get used to the gunshots, the public schools are terrible depriving your child of an education and therefore, future success. I highly doubt anyone in this situation would not say they are making a 'comfortable living'.
 
b-real said:
I'm pretty sure as a physician you're not going to have a problem supporting your family and paying for college. Even at the $40-50,000/yr salary as a resident/fellow, you're making more than the average American. The 400% bump when you're an attending will also help things along. So by that metric of "living comfortably," there's not a point where medicine isn't worth the cost.
Click to expand...

Making $12 hours/hr for 3-10 years after spending 8 years in school after high school is AWESOME. 🙄 Most attendings/PDs/ect know that residents are overworked and underpaid, but that discussion is for another topic.

As Shift said above, that is not going to get you by if you want to live with a certain lifestyle in mind. Living paycheck to paycheck is not going to be fun nor is living on noodles for all those years. To go further off his example; if you want to live in downtown Chicago (7/8 medical schools are within 10 miles of downtown), you should be expecting to pay $1k/month-$2k/month for rent depending on location and size of your apartment. That's equivalent to 1/3 or 1/2 of your income BEFORE taxes just going to rent.
 
shiftingmirage said:
eh, it depends. If you are a single early 20 something, with no strings attached, then I would say in most cases I'd agree, but take the person who already had career 1, has a spouse, kids, mortgage, collage loans for both spouses, couple of cars, 4 years of grad school with huge amounts of debt, no time for a job while in school, 45k/year for 3 to 10+ years is crap. (obviously salaries will go up each year).

In Chicago, I think I saw that the median income is 38k. So at 40k, you might say, hey, that's better than 50% of the pop, right? Granted, I don't have any personal experience here (I didn't grow up in the city), but I'm willing to bet that most would agree that: they live paycheck to paycheck, most have some form of government aid, they live in bad areas of town where dealers are on the corner, you get used to the gunshots, the public schools are terrible depriving your child of an education and therefore, future success. I highly doubt anyone in this situation would not say they are making a 'comfortable living'.
Click to expand...

I would agree with you if that was the rest of your life. The fact is, residency is temporary. Are you expecting to be completely comfortable at all times in your life? It sucks for awhile, and then it doesn't.
 
ChiDO said:
Making $12 hours/hr for 3-10 years after spending 8 years in school after high school is AWESOME. 🙄 Most attendings/PDs/ect know that residents are overworked and underpaid, but that discussion is for another topic.

As Shift said above, that is not going to get you by if you want to live with a certain lifestyle in mind. Living paycheck to paycheck is not going to be fun nor is living on noodles for all those years. To go further off his example; if you want to live in downtown Chicago (7/8 medical schools are within 10 miles of downtown), you should be expecting to pay $1k/month-$2k/month for rent depending on location and size of your apartment. That's equivalent to 1/3 or 1/2 of your income BEFORE taxes just going to rent.
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I was addressing the OP's specific desire:

Not to be rich and drive a beamer...but to have enough money to support your family and send your kids through college...
Click to expand...

You're talking about wanting ideal situation (live downtown, maintain a certain lifestyle), then yes, your stipend doesn't get you far.

PS: I didn't realize there were 8 med schools in Chicago. I guess I forgot the DO schools.
 
b-real said:
PS: I didn't realize there were 8 med schools in Chicago. I guess I forgot the DO schools.
Click to expand...

Well, this thread has been hijacked.

There are 8 schools in IL, but UofI has I think 4 campuses, 1 of which is Chicago. Rush, Northwestern, and UofC are also in Chicago. Loyola is technically in Maywood and the campus is like 500 feet from city limits. Rosland Franklin is in North Chicago, but N Chicago is not just north of the city, there are a few places in between. There is also SIU in springfield. UofI has a Peoria and Urbana campus and a Rockford, but they do some weird thing where you don't spend all 4 years there. Then there is Midwestern (DO). It's actually in Downer's Grove, which is near the city, but but it's also known as Chicago College of OM, despite the fact that it's not in Chicago.

I should add, another crappy thing about Chicago, 10.25% sales tax, highest in the nation. But with that 10%, I don't know if another city has as many museums, city parks, festivals, cultural diversity, as it does.

/hijacking
 
JimmerJammerMrK said:
At most of my interviews I've asked this question, and at ~75% of them the finaid person has stated that they do not include people who have not taken out any loans in this statistic. Some schools do though, so you really have to know what you're looking at. Also, some people might have M&D pay for everything, but borrow the first $8500 in subsidized money anyway to buy a car or something. This would mean that an 8500 gets thrown into a bunch of 200k's and brings the average down.
Click to expand...

I know alot of people who don't take full loans but take some. One kid lives with his parents so only takes out tuition and book $$, another has a husband who foots most of the bill so takes out a few thousand a year for books and test fees etc. Some kids have scholarships that take care of most of their costs. Some kids do have parent's who pay for EVERYTHING or at least loan them most of it interest free. There are a ton of situations out there. You can only really worry about you. What you're tuition will be + what your living expenses will be in a given city - whatever scholarships/trustfunds/savings/spousal earnings etc you have to help you out. There's really no use in even contemplating what someone else is doing to pay for this because it has no impact on your decision of what debtload you're willing to take on to make this happen for you.

I personally ignore finances at this point. I'm too deep in to back out even if I wanted to (which I don't) so I take out whatever I need to make it to the end while trying to be as frugal as possible. I don't panic over an extra thousand or whatever, I don't open stare at my debtload invoice and panic.
 
Well...I've thought about this a lot today and reached this conclusion. Yes...I will be in a disgusting amount of debt- perhaps to the point where it doesn't make any financial sense to become a physician.

HOWEVER...I asked myself what would be worse-

1) Being deep, DEEP, in debt while having the job I've always dreamed of

2)Settling for another job and always wondering how my life would have been if I became a doctor


So there you have it...my hearts really set on this so I guess I'll for it. Enough people seem to be ok...

And like others have noted- med school is stressful enough. Perhaps you DO just need to not stress about the debt, as you will be stressed out enough.


(I wonder what I'll have to say about this topic in 5 yrs LOL)
 
Also this brings upon another question: HOW to pay for the debt.

Let say over 4 yr's I take out..ohhh, $250,000.


Which would be the best way to pay for this considering I plan to do cardiology?

A) Slowly pay it off til I reach attending salary

B) Work as a hospitalist for several years after I.M. residency (before I start cardio fellowship)

C) Work in poor places for loan forgiveness.

These are my options that I was able to come up with lol..thx!
 
b-real said:
I'm pretty sure as a physician you're not going to have a problem supporting your family and paying for college. Even at the $40-50,000/yr salary as a resident/fellow, you're making more than the average American. The 400% bump when you're an attending will also help things along. So by that metric of "living comfortably," there's not a point where medicine isn't worth the cost.
Click to expand...


👍👍
 
UAAWolf said:
Also this brings upon another question: HOW to pay for the debt.

Let say over 4 yr's I take out..ohhh, $250,000.


Which would be the best way to pay for this considering I plan to do cardiology?

A) Slowly pay it off til I reach attending salary

B) Work as a hospitalist for several years after I.M. residency (before I start cardio fellowship)

C) Work in poor places for loan forgiveness.

These are my options that I was able to come up with lol..thx!
Click to expand...
As a cardiologist, you might not be able to find a loan repayment plan. Take the NHSC for example, where you must practice straight IM in order to qualify for the repayment. As a cardiologist, you will not have a problem paying back your loans. And, as of this past June or July, the option to defer during residency is no longer an option on federally-funded loans. For some people this seems to be a huge problem, but fiscally speaking its a great thing. As a resident you'll be making between 40-50,000 dollars a year. Based on that amount, you will have to pay a graduated amount.

Dealing with medical school debt is best done upfront, not putting it on the backburner.
 
psipsina said:
I know alot of people who don't take full loans but take some. One kid lives with his parents so only takes out tuition and book $$, another has a husband who foots most of the bill so takes out a few thousand a year for books and test fees etc. Some kids have scholarships that take care of most of their costs. Some kids do have parent's who pay for EVERYTHING or at least loan them most of it interest free. There are a ton of situations out there. You can only really worry about you. What you're tuition will be + what your living expenses will be in a given city - whatever scholarships/trustfunds/savings/spousal earnings etc you have to help you out. There's really no use in even contemplating what someone else is doing to pay for this because it has no impact on your decision of what debtload you're willing to take on to make this happen for you.

I personally ignore finances at this point. I'm too deep in to back out even if I wanted to (which I don't) so I take out whatever I need to make it to the end while trying to be as frugal as possible. I don't panic over an extra thousand or whatever, I don't open stare at my debtload invoice and panic.
Click to expand...

I agree with you for the most part; I think the average debt statistic isn't as valuable as it seems, at least. It's still worth looking at though, especially if it seems very high or very low for a given cost of attendance. But yeah, CoA is what it's all about, IMO.
 
When one statement is given about a cross-section of thousands of people, multiple variables must be accounted for. In this case, you need to look at reasons why outliers would exist: people who do not have to pay for medical school at all would substantially reduce the value ($0 and $200k averaged is $100k) so if the claim does not account for this the end statement will be less valid.

Most important is the amount of debt you will incur after attending the school that you ultimately choose, based on where you get accepted and how much (if any) help you have.
 
coldweatherblue said:
When one statement is given about a cross-section of thousands of people, multiple variables must be accounted for. In this case, you need to look at reasons why outliers would exist: people who do not have to pay for medical school at all would substantially reduce the value ($0 and $200k averaged is $100k) so if the claim does not account for this the end statement will be less valid.

Most important is the amount of debt you will incur after attending the school that you ultimately choose, based on where you get accepted and how much (if any) help you have.
Click to expand...

Yeah, we've established this. We've also established (I think we have, at least) that most schools do not report people who took out $0. However, there are likely many, many more people who took out only a few thousand dollars as opposed to $0, so schools are still kind of "cheating" when they report a smaller number as the average debt and expect students to jump on it.
 
JimmerJammerMrK said:
Yeah, we've established this. We've also established (I think we have, at least) that most schools do not report people who took out $0. However, there are likely many, many more people who took out only a few thousand dollars as opposed to $0, so schools are still kind of "cheating" when they report a smaller number as the average debt and expect students to jump on it.
Click to expand...

We? You are the only person on this thread who has reported this. I am not doubting what you heard at the handful of schools where you had interviews, but I personally don't believe that the average indebtedness numbers at most schools (or as reported in the MSAR or by the AAMC or other aggregated data sources) leaves out anybody in the calculations.

Regardless how this number is crunched, the reality is that "average indebtedness" is a fairly meaningless stat for individual applicants and matriculants. For most people, indebtedness "is what it is"...most people don't have a choice of schools based on cost because most matriculants only get accepted at one school.

Far more meaningful to focus on the COA at schools, and for purposes of personal analysis, assume all of it is borrowed, to get a picture of the debt one faces. Come next May, if you have multiple acceptances and finaid offers, only then will you be able to estimate what your indebtedness will be at each school, and chances are it will have little in common with the reported "average" for that school.
 
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flip26 said:
We? You are the only person on this thread who has reported this. I am not doubting what you heard at the handful of schools where you had interviews, but I personally don't believe that the average indebtedness numbers at most schools (or as reported in the MSAR or by the AAMC or other aggregated data sources) leaves out anybody in the calculations.
Click to expand...

Someone who gave us a lecture about financing and what not also said that the numbers do not include those who had no debt. I didn't really believe her, and I don't see how that is not fudging the data. An average should be an average, not excluding the lowest data points.

In the end of the day, the average doesn't matter, it's what your position is. As far as repayment, I though there was a limit, so you're minimun payment could only be 10% of your salary (the 10% may be wrong). Also, there are lots of people going into cardiology and not defaulting on their loans, you'll be fine.
 
You will qualify for full federal loans (like $50k) per year since you'll be an independent student. The only thing that might hinder this is if you have like $100k in your checking out.

Your parents income/savings/ect will hinder your need-based loans like Perkins, ect.
 
So then...what about my idea of working as a Hospitalist for a few years after Internal Med residency? Wouldn't this be a good way to pay off my debt more quickly, as well as gain experience to beef up my cardiology fellowship app?

Gonna ask my Uncle about this...I think this is what he did and it worked quite nicely judging from his lifestyle
 
Some people make a considerable amount by moonlighting and they're able to save by living frugally. However, if you're like most people, you'll get caught up in the world of consumerism and you'll buy nice things, accumulate more debt, and slowly pay off your student loans.
 
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