Is a medical degree worth it if you can get one without going into debt?

[Substance]

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I've read a lot of threads on this forum questioning if medicine is worth the incredible debt load that most must incur to get the required education.

From a different perspective, I'm wondering what people think about getting a medical degree and going through residency if said person doesn't have to worry about debt and can pay out of pocket. Is going into medicine still worth it? Are specialty choice and income less important? Is one more able to "follow one's dreams" if debt isn't an issue?

 

[earmuff]

yes.

 

[GoodmanBrown]

This is maybe more of a rhetorical question than anything, but are there people who would love to do specialty X, but go into specialty Y to make more money? Now, if you see yourself liking two specialties equally, it's rational (in the economic sense) to choose the one that makes more money (or has a better lifestyle).

But, if you truly saw yourself being happier in a certain specialty, and it was your "dream" to do it, aren't there always ways of making it work? Worst-case scenario, for most of the lowest paying specialties, you can work for the NHSC for 4 years and be debt-free, right?

 

[babel]

Worst-case scenario, for most of the lowest paying specialties, you can work for the NHSC for 4 years and be debt-free, right?

You're joking, right?!? Check out the NHSC's home page - for loan repayment, they state that they pay $50,000 for 2 years of work - so, $100,000 for 4 years. Most of the people who are super-stressed about loans (myself included) are in the $200-$300K range, which would mean you're looking at 8-12 years. Other problems - the amount you get in loan repayment is considered income and is therefore taxed! 👎

Now, you may be thinking of the scholarships, which take care of all of your expenses up front. Negatives here - difficult to get, you have to be absolutely certain that you want to do primary care, you sacrifice personal freedom in location/type of practice, and I've heard rumblings of people being quite dissatisfied with their experiences (poor treatment on the job, perhaps?). Another thing I've always been suspicious of - what's your base salary? You only get $25K a year in loan repayment, which is not exactly a whole lot, and I imagine that the places affiliated with NHSC might pay a lower base salary, in which case it would make sense to just get a slightly higher paying job in a better environment.

Here's what the NHSC website says about salaries: "Loan repayors negotiate their salaries with the employing site, but the NHSC requires that they be paid at least as much as they would in an equivalent Federal civil service position."

Conclusion: There's no such thing as a free lunch!

 

[Arcan57]

Considering that I went $200k in debt to get through medical school and really enjoy the practice of medicine, yes. To me a medical degree would still be worth it if even if there was no debt involved. If I hated practicing medicine, then no it wouldn't be worth it.