Medical Student Loans and Residency Life

[Medicineman20]

Hey Everyone I am a fourth year medical student hoping to get into residency. I was wondering if residents make any payments on their medical school loans?

thanks,

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[danielmd06]

Hey Everyone I am a fourth year medical student hoping to get into residency. I was wondering if residents make any payments on their medical school loans?

thanks,

Yes. Plenty of us do. Like the saying goes...every little bit helps.

I don't know how much you owe or what your circumstances are, but you should definitely budget your finances as soon as possible and start trying to chip away at whatever debt you've got.

Some well meaning people may attempt to counsel you to put it off, with the understanding that you'll make tons of money (depending on specialty) when you finish residency or that you'll sign on with some rural hospital who will pay a huge chunk of it off the moment you legally commit to them or start working for them.

But I wouldn't. My advice is to start taking financial responsibility now.

Good luck.

 

[alwaysaangel]

I'm not there yet, but I've been estimating my budget with the intent of start paying loans off next year.

I'm going to pay the IBR for residency and fellowship, then pay full payments and make sure I work directly for a non-profit hospital to total 10 years (eg 4 years residency, 1 year fellowship, 5 years attending at an academic institution where I work directly for the hospital) - then the government will pay back the rest under the PSLF program...if it still exists.

I've done the math and its 75-100k depending on how long I'm in residency/fellowship. So seems like a pretty damn good deal!

 

[sunset823]

I'm not there yet, but I've been estimating my budget with the intent of start paying loans off next year.

I'm going to pay the IBR for residency and fellowship, then pay full payments and make sure I work directly for a non-profit hospital to total 10 years (eg 4 years residency, 1 year fellowship, 5 years attending at an academic institution where I work directly for the hospital) - then the government will pay back the rest under the PSLF program...if it still exists.

I've done the math and its 75-100k depending on how long I'm in residency/fellowship. So seems like a pretty damn good deal!

👍 I'm going to be in a ridiculous amount of debt (saying specific numbers seems unseemly) and I intend to work in either academia or some form of public service, so I'm definitely counting on PSLF. I hadn't heard about it until the beginning of this year, and I immediately perked up.

And I definitely am planning to pay my debt down as fast as humanly possible. If that means I live in a hut with no running water, so be it. More likely, I will factor cost of living into my choice of residency locations (I am very flexible with where I live, worried more about fellowship options, etc., than location).

 

[alwaysaangel]

👍 I'm going to be in a ridiculous amount of debt (saying specific numbers seems unseemly) and I intend to work in either academia or some form of public service, so I'm definitely counting on PSLF. I hadn't heard about it until the beginning of this year, and I immediately perked up.

And I definitely am planning to pay my debt down as fast as humanly possible. If that means I live in a hut with no running water, so be it. More likely, I will factor cost of living into my choice of residency locations (I am very flexible with where I live, worried more about fellowship options, etc., than location).

Well see, if you're planning on taking advantage of IBR you probably shouldn't pay your debt down as fast as possible. Assuming the PSLF sticks around (which I am) its to your greatest advantage to pay the minimum on IBR for as long as possible because the difference between that and your 10 year payment is really what the government forgives at the end. The less you pay, the more they forgive 🙂

So I'm planning on staying on IBR and paying exactly that for as long as its less than the 10 year repayment.

 

[Guile]

I've done the math and its 75-100k depending on how long I'm in residency/fellowship. So seems like a pretty damn good deal!

I wouldn't do that if you're just doing it for the money. You'll take a big pay cut to stay in academics, and the difference between private practice and academics could easily be 100,000+ PER YEAR, so if the loan repayment is your motivation, then you're cheating yourself out of the extra salary in private practice. If working in academics is your main motivation, then loan repayment is a nice plus. Just make an informed decision.

 

[alwaysaangel]

I wouldn't do that if you're just doing it for the money. You'll take a big pay cut to stay in academics, and the difference between private practice and academics could easily be 100,000+ PER YEAR, so if the loan repayment is your motivation, then you're cheating yourself out of the extra salary in private practice. If working in academics is your main motivation, then loan repayment is a nice plus. Just make an informed decision.

I'm not doing it just for the money. I want to work in academics anyway - I like teaching and research, can't picture myself in a community practice.

But yes, you're right. PSLF is not right for people who want to work in private/community practice.

 

[Winged Scapula]

I'm not doing it just for the money. I want to work in academics anyway - I like teaching and research, can't picture myself in a community practice.

FYI: you can teach and do research in PP. Many medical school adjunct faculty do so and reap the benefits of both worlds (although admittedly it can be difficult to do significant research in PP without substantial infrastructure/staff).

 

[DF38]

When paying back your loans, can you choose which loans to apply the payments to? Obviously I'd like to pay back my Grad Plus before my Perkins, since they're at different interest rates.

 

[alwaysaangel]

FYI: you can teach and do research in PP. Many medical school adjunct faculty do so and reap the benefits of both worlds (although admittedly it can be difficult to do significant research in PP without substantial infrastructure/staff).

Haha good point, and something I'm sure I'll have to consider when I get there.

 

[Guile]

When paying back your loans, can you choose which loans to apply the payments to? Obviously I'd like to pay back my Grad Plus before my Perkins, since they're at different interest rates.

Yes, unless you consolidate them.

 

[JackADeli]

...My advice is to start taking financial responsibility now...

Start paying as much as you can as early as you can...

👍 agree on both counts. Depending on specialty and program rules, you may even get an opportunity to moon-light. I know folks in FM that moon-light heavy to the tune of 150-200K. That goes a long way towards student loans and liberates you in what jobs you may accept when done with residency.

FYI: you can teach and do research in PP. Many medical school adjunct faculty do so and reap the benefits of both worlds...

👍There are plenty of rewarding teaching opportunities in PP. It is a mistake to presume you have to trade income at academic low levels in order to teach. There are also numerous clinical research opportunities in PP. But, it probably is very difficult to do bench/basic science research in most PP settings.