paying for school

[determinedfuture]

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As I'm looking into many different schools, it worries me about the amount of debt accumulated. I know medicine is something I love and have a passion for, but one can only think about the cost of debt in today's society. How are you all paying for school? I know financial aide, but roughly how much debt are you accumulatING per year? I'm going into medicine regardless, I just think it's smart to be financially knowledgeable in the things you wish to pursue.

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

Taking on probably roughly 60K the first year then 41K for the other 3 years. Then I am already sitting on 40K from undergrad. The wife has about 80K overall for her undergrad and masters degree.

FML, but what are you supposed to do? It just is what it is?

 

[moonwake]

As I'm looking into many different schools, it worries me about the amount of debt accumulated. I know medicine is something I love and have a passion for, but one can only think about the cost of debt in today's society. How are you all paying for school? I know financial aide, but roughly how much debt are you accumulatING per year? I'm going into medicine regardless, I just think it's smart to be financially knowledgeable in the things you wish to pursue.

People take out anywhere from 120-300k for medical school (including cost of living). I am at the higher end of the spectrum and have 30k in UG debt and my wife has 20k from UG. I've done the math a million times and after residency/fellowship I'll have way over 100k income after taxes no matter what I go into after paying 70k a year towards my loans.

What I'm trying to say is if you're taking out 300k or less, you should be able to pay it back and still live a very comfortable lifestyle. When those loans are paid off (in my case it would be 10 years or less). Then you have an extra 70k added to your income. Just some food for thought...

 

[keevwu]

People take out anywhere from 120-300k for medical school (including cost of living). I am at the higher end of the spectrum and have 30k in UG debt and my wife has 20k from UG. I've done the math a million times and after residency/fellowship I'll have way over 100k income after taxes no matter what I go into after paying 70k a year towards my loans.

What I'm trying to say is if you're taking out 300k or less, you should be able to pay it back and still live a very comfortable lifestyle. When those loans are paid off (in my case it would be 10 years or less). Then you have an extra 70k added to your income. Just some food for thought...

so you'll make $170k post-tax even in primary care?

 

[67552931811]

so you'll make $170k post-tax even in primary care?

For 95% of PC docs, no.

 

[moonwake]

so you'll make $170k post-tax even in primary care?

No, sorry.

For 95% of PC docs, no.

But EM, gen surg, ob/gyn, or pretty much every other specialty will.

PC/IM/Peds might not. However, you will have a shorter residency most likely and have less loans to pay back so you won't need to pay 70k back a year more like 50k~, so that might mean it'll be like 120k post tax for some.

 

[kenjixshadow]

x

 

[moonwake]

You can make $200k+ for primary care depends on the location, some rural places will get you a much higher compensate rate compare to if you live in an urban area.

You should also look at the interests accrued over the course of 4 yrs in med school. Say you take out 300,000 total, you're looking at 20k to 50k of interest excluded of 300k you borrow.

Yup I have a whole post about that here:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/being-a-finance-illiterate-pre-med.1128876/#post-16350776

 

[kenjixshadow]

Yup I have a whole post about that here:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/being-a-finance-illiterate-pre-med.1128876/#post-16350776

Nice work!!! AAMC has something similar to this with the plans too if you want to look at. Plus, I recommend of following White Coat Investor of refinancing when you become an attending. It's essentially you use private loan to pay off your student loan with a lower rate, even though they are variable but still lower than 6%.
http://whitecoatinvestor.com/sofi-raises-lowers-the-bar-again/
http://whitecoatinvestor.com/sofi-raises-lowers-the-bar-again/

 

[67552931811]

No, sorry.


But EM, gen surg, ob/gyn, or pretty much every other specialty will.

PC/IM/Peds might not. However, you will have a shorter residency most likely and have less loans to pay back so you won't need to pay 70k back a year more like 50k~, so that might mean it'll be like 120k post tax for some.

Indeed, those specialities will.

You can make $200k+ for primary care depends on the location, some rural places will get you a much higher compensate rate compare to if you live in an urban area.



You should also look at the interests accrued over the course of 4 yrs in med school. Say you take out 300,000 total, you're looking at 20k to 50k of interest excluded of 300k you borrow.

It's actually more. If one takes out 65K a year, then one's loan total will be ~320K the day they graduate. This is assuming that current loan rates stay fixed for the next 4 years (they won't).

 

[moonwake]

Indeed, those specialities will.

It's actually more. If one takes out 65K a year, then one's loan total will be ~320K the day they graduate. This is assuming that current loan rates stay fixed for the next 4 years (they won't).

Yeah I know. Like I said I posted about this. I'm just saying by taking out 300k~ which at 6-7% turns out to be the total which is 500kish after 9 years will require 70k a year to pay off. If they have 3 years of residency like in PC and no fellowship then their loans only compound for 7 years which would make it like 440k instead of 500k. Regardless, just as an easy estimate. If you go to a school with 200k or less tuition I don't see why you should have problems paying of your debt if you're smart. If you're OOS state and going to school in Michigan then you might be in a bind.

 

[determinedfuture]

People take out anywhere from 120-300k for medical school (including cost of living). I am at the higher end of the spectrum and have 30k in UG debt and my wife has 20k from UG. I've done the math a million times and after residency/fellowship I'll have way over 100k income after taxes no matter what I go into after paying 70k a year towards my loans.

What I'm trying to say is if you're taking out 300k or less, you should be able to pay it back and still live a very comfortable lifestyle. When those loans are paid off (in my case it would be 10 years or less). Then you have an extra 70k added to your income. Just some food for thought...

Thanks for the insight. Looking at things like that sound much better. Also when I talked to one of the doctors I currently work with, he advised not to worry about the debt accrued because some jobs will pay some of your debt off. For example he said when he was hired at this hospital, he told them he would love to work there, but the salary they were offering vs the amount of debt, wasn't going to cut it for him. So they agreed to pay majority of his debt off per year that he worked there. He said there are places out there that will provide this option, so dont worrt just make the best of your schooling. Feeling less anxiety now.

 

[IslandStyle808]

Thanks for the insight. Looking at things like that sound much better. Also when I talked to one of the doctors I currently work with, he advised not to worry about the debt accrued because some jobs will pay some of your debt off. For example he said when he was hired at this hospital, he told them he would love to work there, but the salary they were offering vs the amount of debt, wasn't going to cut it for him. So they agreed to pay majority of his debt off per year that he worked there. He said there are places out there that will provide this option, so dont worry just make the best of your schooling. Feeling less anxiety now.

Negotiation for a job is huge especially as a physician. Once you are locked in for a salary, it will determine how you are paid for the rest of your time there. If a physician can get his or her salary up by even $10-$30k a year, this helps a lot if raises are given as a percentage (220K+10% raise is better than 200K+10% raise). There are a lot of ways to negotiate and this I feel should be emphasized more in the science based fields. I definitely think the physician you shadowed did make a wise choice none the less.

 

[evooo8]

I think if you can find the right job the amount of time it takes for you to pay your debt will be the same regardless of specialty. Primary care you can likely find a lot of places that will help you pay off your debt. If you decide to go into a higher paying specialty you will make much more money but less places will offer to help pay your debt.

 

[determinedfuture]

I think if you can find the right job the amount of time it takes for you to pay your debt will be the same regardless of specialty. Primary care you can likely find a lot of places that will help you pay off your debt. If you decide to go into a higher paying specialty you will make much more money but less places will offer to help pay your debt.

The doctor I work with is a thoracic surgeon and the hospital paid for most of his debt.

 

[evooo8]

The doctor I work with is a thoracic surgeon and the hospital paid for most of his debt.

Wow, lucky guy! It would be really nice to get a deal like that! Huge salary and debt paid for!

 

[keels99]

60 K a year in loans to pay for tuition and miscellaneous expenses (it would be a lot more, but I'm going through the Army Reserve and get a stipend.) There are a lot of loan repayment programs if primary care is what you want to do. Otherwise, you should reasonably be able to pay off your loans with most other specialties (except maybe for peds or psych.)