When the least paid specialty in medicine make around 200k/year, it’s hard to argue that doctors really need forgiveness on their loans. Not everyone can visualize the sacrifice it takes for the medical profession, but everyone can do a quick search to see emergency medicine docs making 350k/year complaining about not being able to pay off their 400k loan.
That depends a lot on your circumstances. If you have no family support or prexisitng assets, that means a lot of loans.
Loans for undergrad = $80k
Post-Bacc = $15k
Attending 5x Interviews + Application Fees = $4k
I had a job that paid 50k gross out of college (40k net) during my post-bacc, so I made back $15k that year after living expenses.
Before even starting medical school I'm in the hole ~$80k from loans and interest.
Loans for medical school living frugally off campus = $65k/year + interest. Over 4 years I will owe ~$300k from medical school and ~$90k from undergrad.
I enter residency $390k in debt with an interest rate between 5.05% and 7.6%. At 6%, that's ~$2k per month interest alone.
If I'd stayed at my $50k/year job and earned the 5% a year raise, I would have $170k net over 4 years.
So, the day I start residency, I will be $560k and 4 years behind the me that didn't pursue medicine with an interest rate of $2k/month just to hold my loans at the amount they are.
$200k salary means $128k take home. If I live off $40k/year, my loans are paid off in 5 years. If you count the money I would have made had I not gone into medicine, I would be even in ~7 years. So after 4 years of medical school, 3 years of residency and 7 years as a physician living off less than what I would have made with a bachelors I am on equal financial footing with 26 year old me. I am now 40.
This makes it difficult to choose primary care even if I want to. It makes it even more difficult to choose academic medicine where pay can range down to $150k. The latter would add another 3 years before I am financially even with 26 year old me.
