Pharmacist applying for Med School Loan ?'s

[Pharm.D2MD]

Longtime reader during pharmacy school but I am getting ready to graduate. My plan is to work 1-2 years as a pharmacist while studying for the MCAT, getting my application together, and trying to save up some money for med school.

I have seen that there are quite a few people who have continued onto medical school after pharmacy. I am in a confusing situation and I have tried reading other threads but can't find any answers so if anyone could help I would really appreciate it!

Question: I will have approx. 200k in loans from undergrad and pharmacy school combined (I know, a lot!). I am wondering if anyone knows if it would be possible to get on IBR as soon as I graduate pharmacy school and make the IBR payments for the 1 to 2 years while I am working as a pharmacist and then continue to make IBR payments during med school and residency at a much lower rate of course because I will most likely be working a handful of shifts per month during med school. I am thinking that if this were possible I would have a minimum of 7 years worth of very small IBR payments taken care of out of the 20 years until the loan is forgiven. (I know that the loan forgiveness is not a guarantee by any means).

Thanks for reading, and please let me know if anyone has any advice or has found themselves in a similar situation!

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[mr.applesauce]

I'm sorry that this doesn't answer your question much, but I'm sure other people reading this are wondering as well... why the switch? Especially after grinding through pharmacy school for all of those years?

 

[coolkul]

I'm echoing mr.applesauce's question. Why medicine after spending so much time and money on pharmacy? Anyway, there are people who have made the transition. There is this one guy who posted a lot on the forums. I don't know his name, but he has Stevie from Family Guy as his pic. I'm sure there are others on this forum who can also help you out. If you're committed I'm sure you could do it. I'm sorry I can't give you more information about the loan situation. I'm in a somewhat similar situation (transitioning from other job/career path to medicine).

 

[purduepharm13]

I can't speak to your exact question, but do have some advice you may find useful as I was in similar shoes a few years ago (now MS4). I took a year off after pharmacy school before med school, and just did the standard repayment plan during that time. I looked into doing the IBR payment plan once starting school, but they (whatever Sallie Mae was at the time) didn't like the idea of sporadic work shifts and inconsistent annual income to base IBR off of. In the end, my loans ended up back in deferment since I couldn't get them to work with me on the IBR during school.

If you can get them to give you super low IBR payments based on really low/no income, by all means take advantage as I would do the same. But if they want a payment that isn't trivial, you may want to reconsider and focus on more important priorities like stockpiling money for living expenses and such. There are a ton of unforeseen misc med school expenses, and the 2 (of 3 total) board step exams you take during school are very expensive.

Retail and even hospital RPh shifts are more scarce to come by than when I graduated in 2013, and will only get worse in the next couple years. I wouldn't bank on being able to pick up retail/hospital shifts that fit your school schedule. I found that out the hard way, trust me.

 

[J ROD]

I'm echoing mr.applesauce's question. Why medicine after spending so much time and money on pharmacy? Anyway, there are people who have made the transition. There is this one guy who posted a lot on the forums. I don't know his name, but he has Stevie from Family Guy as his pic. I'm sure there are others on this forum who can also help you out. If you're committed I'm sure you could do it. I'm sorry I can't give you more information about the loan situation. I'm in a somewhat similar situation (transitioning from other job/career path to medicine).

I am he....

I can't say for exactly sure since I just deferred my loans since I am hopeful they will get wiped off after doing the 10 yr public service deal. I believe you would have to defer the loans once you take out loans for med school. Also, do not plan to work much during med school. I thought I would be able to but I could only manage a weekend or two a month. Demand is just too great. Let's just say I have "A LOT" of loans. But, I still could pay them back rather easily based on a 225K salary. Don't let the loan run the show. Med school is much harder than pharm. Honestly, if I was not already getting near the light I would have never started down this road. I would ponder the hell of that decision. Grass is not greener. Just harder to cut......

 

[Pharm.D2MD]

Thanks for the replies!

As far as why the switch, there are a number of reasons. The most important one I keep coming back to is that I went into the medical field to help people and I really believe I would enjoy a more hands-on approach and being the one to actually see patients, diagnose, and treat.

I have been working community pharmacy for three years as an intern so I know what the day-to-day is like for a pharmacist at a retail chain which is the majority of jobs and I do not feel fulfilled at all. Of course we can counsel on OTC’s and do some med review but that is about it. I also considered doing a pharmacy residency, but that is an additional 1-2 years and after doing rotations in a hospital as a pharmacy student and shadowing clinical pharmacists I see that a majority of what they do is still not the type of patient care that I am interested in. Not trying to dog pharmacy much more (a quick glance at the pharmacy forum and you will see lots of reasons people are not so optimistic about the outlook of the profession).


Again, thanks for everyone’s responses. The answers on the student loans helped a lot. I figured that the loophole wasn’t a true loophole.

Purduepharm13, I think that is a smarter route trying to work for at least a year to stock pile some money and hopefully be able to decrease the amount of additional loans I would have to take out for med school.

Please keep the replies coming, they are helpful!

 

[libertyyne]

Public service forgiveness of loans requires 10 years of working full-time at a non profit. You will not meet those requirements during school, unless you work which most people will say is unfeasible.

 

[Pharm.D2MD]

Public service forgiveness of loans requires 10 years of working full-time at a non profit. You will not meet those requirements during school, unless you work which most people will say is unfeasible.

I’m not planning on doing PSLF. I was talking about IBR and then forgiveness after 20 years

 

[Lnsean]

Also, pharmD to MD here. You will not be working that much during pharmacy school. Trust me. Unless you want your academics to suffer and they will because med school is a 3-4x harder than pharmacy school. The volume of material is sooooo much greater. I am currently working part-time (only 4 days/month) and it's already draining me. I had already paid off my undergrad and pharmacy loans so I don't know how that would work for you. I imagine that all your loans can be put in deferment until you graduate med school IF they are federal loans and not private.

 

[Pharm.D2MD]

Also, pharmD to MD here. You will not be working that much during pharmacy school. Trust me. Unless you want your academics to suffer and they will because med school is a 3-4x harder than pharmacy school. The volume of material is sooooo much greater. I am currently working part-time (only 4 days/month) and it's already draining me. I had already paid off my undergrad and pharmacy loans so I don't know how that would work for you. I imagine that all your loans can be put in deferment until you graduate med school IF they are federal loans and not private.

Thanks for the advice! I am thinking that if I could at least work a few shifts per month to pay my interest payments on my undergrad/pharmacy loans that would be great. Approx 12k/year in interest alone. That way if I am in deferment at least I could keep my loans the same and prevent the interest from capitalizing and getting more out of control.

That is crazy you find med school 3-4x harder than pharmacy. Granted pharmacy school hasn’t been too bad but 3-4x worse sounds a little rough haha.

 

[Lnsean]

Thanks for the advice! I am thinking that if I could at least work a few shifts per month to pay my interest payments on my undergrad/pharmacy loans that would be great. Approx 12k/year in interest alone. That way if I am in deferment at least I could keep my loans the same and prevent the interest from capitalizing and getting more out of control.

That is crazy you find med school 3-4x harder than pharmacy. Granted pharmacy school hasn’t been too bad but 3-4x worse sounds a little rough haha.

Pharmacy school was a cake for me. I didn't get 4.0 but I graduated with highest honors and didn't even really try. 3 months into med school now and I'm always behind on material and lectures because the volume is crazy (you're learning anatomy, patho, histology on top of drugs). It's crazy. My only advice to you is to make sure that this is what you really want. It doesn't make any financial sense for you to go from PharmD to MD. You'll be in more debt...with crushing interests being realized after you graduate...you'll be in residencies and becoming an attending much later than all your peers. The healthcare landscape is also very fragile with mid-levels encroachment and decreased reimbursements. Make sure it is what you want and you cannot see yourself doing anything else.

 

[Pharm.D2MD]

Pharmacy school was a cake for me. I didn't get 4.0 but I graduated with highest honors and didn't even really try. 3 months into med school now and I'm always behind on material and lectures because the volume is crazy (you're learning anatomy, patho, histology on top of drugs). It's crazy. My only advice to you is to make sure that this is what you really want. It doesn't make any financial sense for you to go from PharmD to MD. You'll be in more debt...with crushing interests being realized after you graduate...you'll be in residencies and becoming an attending much later than all your peers. The healthcare landscape is also very fragile with mid-levels encroachment and decreased reimbursements. Make sure it is what you want and you cannot see yourself doing anything else.

Do you mind if I ask why you made the switch? And also, did you work as a pharmacist before making the switch?

 

[Lnsean]

Do you mind if I ask why you made the switch? And also, did you work as a pharmacist before making the switch?

Very cliche but I wanted purpose in my work. I wanted my actions to have impact on someone's life/treatment. I had a decent salary as a pharmacist but I didn't feel fulfilled? That's probably the best way to put it.

 

[J ROD]

Also, pharmD to MD here. You will not be working that much during pharmacy school. Trust me. Unless you want your academics to suffer and they will because med school is a 3-4x harder than pharmacy school. The volume of material is sooooo much greater.

I would have to agree. I compare MD to PharmD like major league to single A in a baseball comparison, which is about 3-4x as hard. I was honor society president and 3.9+ and I was at best "Average" in med school. like a 3.3 GPA......couple C+.....was failing a class halfway in and had to work my ass off to get that C+. Not to mention the time demand. And it gets worse in residency......

 

[Pharm.D2MD]

i saw somewhere that if you have > 220k in loans then you can’t take out any additional for further schooling. All my loans are federal and I should be a decent amount below this. Especially after working a few years but does anyone know if this is true?

 

[purduepharm13]

I agree with the aforementioned posts about medical school being much more difficult than pharmacy school. Like them, I was near the top of my pharm school graduating class without much effort. It only took a few weeks into medical school to be humbled by the volume and depth of material, and that experience has persisted all 4 years of medical school thus far.

All 3 of us seem to have had similar experiences in that transition and career path change. JROD and Lnsean are correct, it's several times harder, with a tremendous amount of volume of material to cover. The old joke about it's like trying to drink from a fire hose is a decent way to describe it. Everything builds on everything, and both your didactic and clinical year performances greatly impact residency options.

Med school is much different regarding grading in that in addition to getting a minimal percentage of points just to pass, the final grade (honors, high pass, pass, fail) are assigned by your percentile/ranking in the class (eg., top 10% get honors, next 20% high pass, etc.). Since the vast majority of your classmates will be academic beasts and place so much on grades, you will be hindering yourself by choosing to work shifts instead of truly mastering the material. Focusing so much on finances/loans during this process would be unwise.

That may not seem important to you at the moment, but unlike many things in pharmacy, you can't just quickly look up an answer for many tough situations or decisions; Medicine and real-life patients are just too complex for such an easy solution. It can be difficult at times to integrate all of that didactic/book knowledge and apply it clinically. Thus, shortchanging yourself during school by worrying about finances and having to work will only come back to bite you during residency and after as an attending.

There's a reason it takes so many years of training. I think you'd be wise to take a step back and consider the choice you're making, and the reasons why.

Yes, sadly I know that the loan amount you mentioned is the maximum amt for federal loans

 

[coolkul]

I am he....

I can't say for exactly sure since I just deferred my loans since I am hopeful they will get wiped off after doing the 10 yr public service deal. I believe you would have to defer the loans once you take out loans for med school. Also, do not plan to work much during med school. I thought I would be able to but I could only manage a weekend or two a month. Demand is just too great. Let's just say I have "A LOT" of loans. But, I still could pay them back rather easily based on a 225K salary. Don't let the loan run the show. Med school is much harder than pharm. Honestly, if I was not already getting near the light I would have never started down this road. I would ponder the hell of that decision. Grass is not greener. Just harder to cut......

Hey J Rod, do you think you would've been better off sticking with pharmacy or having gone directly to medical school instead of pharmacy? Essentially what I'm trying to ask is, knowing what you know now, would you pick pharmacy or medicine if you could go back in time before you even started pharm school?

 

[J ROD]

Hey J Rod, do you think you would've been better off sticking with pharmacy or having gone directly to medical school instead of pharmacy? Essentially what I'm trying to ask is, knowing what you know now, would you pick pharmacy or medicine if you could go back in time before you even started pharm school?

If I could go back, I probably would have remained a PharmD. MD is overrated.

 

[zero0]

I don't really have a dog in this fight since I didn't attend pharmacy school, but I will say I've considered dropping out of med school multiple times in the 1st 2 years and just going to my IS pharmacy school. Med school is just too much work for not that much better of a deal than pharmacy. There's just so much extra stress and you still have to worry about getting the residency you want. Anyway, personally I'd steer clear and run with what you got.