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Really freaked out about loans...

Started by Lolo1982
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Lolo1982

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So, I think I was focusing so much on getting into school that I put the cost issues in the back of my mind. Now that I've been accepted to CCOM (and hopefully PCOM), I'm starting to wonder what kind of person can afford to take out almost 300K in loans for 4 years of school. At that rate, I don't even feel like primary care is an option. People keep saying it's just going to be ok, but I don't think anyone actually knows that. Costs are incredibly high, and physician salaries are pretty much flat-lining, and might be on their way down depending on what happens with health care in the future.

Is everyone else just trying not to think about this?
 
Is everyone else just trying not to think about this?[/quote]

Basically.
 
So, I think I was focusing so much on getting into school that I put the cost issues in the back of my mind. Now that I've been accepted to CCOM (and hopefully PCOM), I'm starting to wonder what kind of person can afford to take out almost 300K in loans for 4 years of school. At that rate, I don't even feel like primary care is an option. People keep saying it's just going to be ok, but I don't think anyone actually knows that. Costs are incredibly high, and physician salaries are pretty much flat-lining, and might be on their way down depending on what happens with health care in the future.

Is everyone else just trying not to think about this?

I am. I'm really worried, tuition raises every year and salaries are getting lower. I for one am scared of debt.

Medicine is certainly not as lucrative as it used to be. Any older physician will tell you this.

Glad I'm not in it for the money 😉.

I'm still worried but like you trying to tell myself it will work out.
 
If you end up at either school you shouldn't be taking on 300K worth of debt. You cannot borrow more than the cost of attendance (tuition and living expenses) and with tuition at 37K or 44K for PCOM and CCOM respectively you have a lot of room until you reach that 300K level. The debt is going to suck, I agree. But, living responsibly and not maxing out your available loans will save you heartache in the end. Find a roommate to live with, this will cut down the cost significantly. Drive an older, but reliable car. Be sensible. I'm living on less than 10K a year going to undergrad in Philadelphia. I expect that to rise a bit when I move a few miles to PCOM, but not to go over 20K a year.
 
Does anybody know much about loan forgivenesses for primary cares doctors? also, my uncle is an orthopedic surgeon and he had his loans forgiven for practicing in an underserved area. He lives in a large city and just drives about 30 minutes to work. Just some ideas to help people not stress so much.
 
If you end up at either school you shouldn't be taking on 300K worth of debt. You cannot borrow more than the cost of attendance (tuition and living expenses) and with tuition at 37K or 44K for PCOM and CCOM respectively you have a lot of room until you reach that 300K level. The debt is going to suck, I agree. But, living responsibly and not maxing out your available loans will save you heartache in the end. Find a roommate to live with, this will cut down the cost significantly. Drive an older, but reliable car. Be sensible. I'm living on less than 10K a year going to undergrad in Philadelphia. I expect that to rise a bit when I move a few miles to PCOM, but not to go over 20K a year.
They were showing cost of living for an out of state student to be ~$72k/yr. at CCOM during their financial aid presentation... it's a pretty real concern for me, but I keep reminding myself this is something I want to do. Even the average lifetime salary of a primary care physician is ~$4.3million; $288k should be affordable with that (although both of these numbers are possible, even probable, to change as time passes).

There's a pretty good solution, though: 1 part gin, 3 parts tonic, slice of lime :laugh: (kidding, of course)
 
I've been concerned about loans as well which has led me to look into going the military route. But I'm being indecisive about whether the military commitment is worth the loan forgiveness. Anybody have any thoughts on the subject?
 
Everyone that I know that has done ROTC or military for medicine has said DON'T DO IT FOR THE MONEY.
On the other hand, I've had a married couple of D.O.'s suggest to follow the military route if possible, simply for the monetary compensation (apparently they had a friend in medical school that signed on to the Air Force and suggested it strongly to anyone willing to listen)... guess it depends on the person. I know I couldn't do military, regardless of financial need.
 
Everyone that I know that has done ROTC or miltary for medicine has said DON'T DO IT FOR THE MONEY.

qft.

I know the military route sounds pretty sweet considering the money, but do your research before you even think about applying for it. Being a member of the armed forces is a very large commitment, and not one to be taken lightly. I've got friends who went to every academy out there-army, navy, air force-and while they love it, they knew exactly what they were getting in to. Having families members who are in the same service branch helps, as is the case for most of them.

Here's the NHSC link, for people who are interested:
http://nhsc.bhpr.hrsa.gov/

OP, I'm with you on the loans thing. I didn't have any fin aid for college, so I'm very new to this whole thing. All I know is that I look at the tuition for the places where I interviewed and it makes me die a little inside.
 
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The loan thing is huge. Every semester I get my loan statement and it's ... well ... big. Tuition at UNE is now $42K and I'm borrowing $60K/yr. That'll be $240K easy, plus undergrad loans (mine are fortunately very small). So I'm looking at $260K in loans. Big ouch.

Now primary care. I know someone fresh out of residency who just signed an employment contract to be a family practice doc in a group for $135K. She's feeling pretty good about being able to pay her loans at this point. Will she live like Dr. Rey on Dr. 90210? No. But she'll be very comfortable.
 
The first thing you have to think about is keeping your medical school living expenses as low as possible without compromising safety and health. Get a roommate, stop drinking, get rid of your gas hog etc, etc.

I will give you a simple formula to calculate your end of residency debt based on ANNUAL cost of attendance. If you can pick this up easily you will demonstrate that you are better financiers than the pre allo crowd.

The basic math of debt accumulation is as follows:

1) If you can get an interest deferral through residency, for every dollar per year you borrow through Stafford subsidized loans you will owe $4 total at the end of a four year residency;

2) For every dollar per year @ 6.5% you borrow through unsubsidized Staffords per year you will owe about $5.82 at the end of a four year residency;

3) For every dollar per year you borrow @ 8.5% through Grad Plus you will owe about $6.57 at the end of a four year residency.

Assume you go to a school with a cost of attendance totaling $70,500 per year and you borrow $8,500 per year through subsidized Stafford loans, $32,000 at 6.5% through unsubsidized Stafford loans and $30,000 through Grad Plus at 8.5%. Your debt at the end of residency would be (4*$8,500) + (5.82 * $32,000) + ($30,000 * 6.57) = (34,000+ 186,240+ 197,100) =$417,340.

If you make $200,000 per year after residency but live like a resident for five more years even with income taxes you can pay the whole thing off. The secret here is that for 13 straight years you must be as cheap as you can be without sacrificing safety and health.😀
 
According to AAMC applications to allopathic med schools are down about 3% from last year. This was posted on a pre-allo thread. Because I believe in the efficient market theory I take this as a sign that a lot of young adults have come to believe that the debt, obscene work load in med school and the lousy lifestyle of some physicians make going to medical school a waste of time and money.

I still think that going to med school is a good idea if the work appeals to you intrinsically. If your only interest in life is cash maybe a prestigious MBA program is the right choice. If you can get into med school you can sure as hell get into a pretty good MBA program!

Conflict of interest disclosure: My kid ripped the MCAT and she is competing with y'all for a med school spot. 😀
 
One smart home purchase can pay for medical school.

My next post will include everything you need to know about flipping condos in Florida! You can make zillions turning those babies over in the Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Orlando areas. You can get a loan with no money down and a floating interest rate. 🙂
 
If you end up at either school, you shouldn't be taking on $300K worth of debt.

Wrong. You can't simply multiply your MS1 loans by four and call that your total debt. I wish it worked that way, but it doesn't.

Cost of living goes up every year and tuition goes up faster than inflation every year. All but $8500/year of your loans start accruing interest immediately. And medical school gets more expensive as you go along: boards, residency application/interview travel, relocation costs. If you borrow $65K your first year, you can expect to owe roughly $325K when you graduate. And then the whole mess accrues interest all throughout residency. You'll probably capitalize about $410K after a four year residency (my numbers look a little different from Obnoxious Dad's but we're pretty much in the same ballpark).

$300K in debt is really easy to amass. If you borrow around $50K as a first year medical student and forbear through a four year residency, you'll owe $300K at capitalization. Obviously, lots of folks borrow more than $50K as first year students.
 
According to my formula you would be $282,655 in debt at the end of a four year residency. This assumes that you have no debt at the beginning of med school.:hardy:

People always assume that they are going to pay more in years 2, 3 and 4. This isn't totally true. Your tuition will rise as you go through school but you will have expenses in your first year such as a laptop that you won't have in the later years. You might also get into rotations where housing is provided. In addition you might find better deals on housing, find roommates etc.
 
anyone know of a job from which i can earn $300K over the next 9 months?
i have a BS in Human bio and Masters in med science+research
kgr8thnx
 
The first thing you have to think about is keeping your medical school living expenses as low as possible without compromising safety and health. Get a roommate, stop drinking, get rid of your gas hog etc, etc.

I will give you a simple formula to calculate your end of residency debt based on ANNUAL cost of attendance. If you can pick this up easily you will demonstrate that you are better financiers than the pre allo crowd.

The basic math of debt accumulation is as follows:

1) If you can get an interest deferral through residency, for every dollar per year you borrow through Stafford subsidized loans you will owe $4 total at the end of a four year residency;

2) For every dollar per year @ 6.5% you borrow through unsubsidized Staffords per year you will owe about $5.82 at the end of a four year residency;

3) For every dollar per year you borrow @ 8.5% through Grad Plus you will owe about $6.57 at the end of a four year residency.

Assume you go to a school with a cost of attendance totaling $70,500 per year and you borrow $8,500 per year through subsidized Stafford loans, $32,000 at 6.5% through unsubsidized Stafford loans and $30,000 through Grad Plus at 8.5%. Your debt at the end of residency would be (4*$8,500) + (5.82 * $32,000) + ($30,000 * 6.57) = (34,000+ 186,240+ 197,100) =$417,340.

If you make $200,000 per year after residency but live like a resident for five more years even with income taxes you can pay the whole thing off. The secret here is that for 13 straight years you must be as cheap as you can be without sacrificing safety and health.😀

Thanks for the post.👍👍

I knew it was something like that but never saw it worked out. It's almost not practical but hey it's what I want to do.

I'm interested in the housing part myself. If nothing else getting some equity throughout med school should save me around 20k assuming that I sell it for what I bought it (lets hope there's some appreciation though)!
 
On the other hand, I've had a married couple of D.O.'s suggest to follow the military route if possible, simply for the monetary compensation (apparently they had a friend in medical school that signed on to the Air Force and suggested it strongly to anyone willing to listen)... guess it depends on the person. I know I couldn't do military, regardless of financial need.

If you are going the primary care route then the difference between pay isn't that great. If you want to be a higher paid speciality, the difference is much larger and not worth it unless you love the military.

But yes, I am worried about debt. I am fortunate to be accepted to two of the cheaper DO schools and I have a ton of financial help. My parents are going to try and at least pay for room/board and books. I also got 5,000 dollars stashed so far. That doesn't seem like much, but after the interest that could be upwards of 15,000 saved. (One really really really nice guitar) My goal is to save up another couple of grand for the first year.
 
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I think buying a home in med school is absolutely dumb!! For one thing you will pay transaction costs when you unload it. You don't know where the market will be in four years when you need to unload it. You won't have money or time to repair it.

The only upside is that if you buy a three bedroom house you might get roommates to pay you rent. Because you won't have other income you probably won't owe any income tax for the rental income. I would be very skeptical about this idea.😱
 
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1) If you can get an interest deferral through residency, for every dollar per year you borrow through Stafford subsidized loans you will owe $4 total at the end of a four year residency

Not gonna happen. Loan deferrals for residents end after next year, so anybody carrying debt during their residency will be required to make payments.

So your numbers need to be re-crunched to accommodate for the fact that any given resident starts making loan payments a month or so after they graduate from med school. The new, income-based payments, start at $365/month. I suppose residents can choose the forbearance and watch their debt climb if they so choose.
 
Sounds like a lot of people are worried. I applied to CCOM and PCOM because I'm from NY and I knew they accepted a lot of out of state applicants, I know they are excellent schools with long standing, great reputations, and more research opportunities than some of the other DO schools. It's just a hard pill to swallow I guess. Luckily I'm getting married and my future husband will be working the whole time, so he'll absorb some expense and when I'm finished I can contribute most of my salary to loans. I'm certainly not in medicine for the money, but I'd like to be able to pay off loans, live in a house someday, and put money into my children's future. Right now that seems so for away.
 
Not gonna happen. Loan deferrals for residents end after next year, so anybody carrying debt during their residency will be required to make payments.

So your numbers need to be re-crunched to accommodate for the fact that any given resident starts making loan payments a month or so after they graduate from med school. The new, income-based payments, start at $365/month. I suppose residents can choose the forbearance and watch their debt climb if they so choose.

365 a month isn't that bad though. That is around what most of my friends out of undergrad pay while making the same amount of cash.

I guess I'll just have to cut down on strippers and coke. *That is a joke for any of you adcom people. I already got one facebook message for being inappropriate*
 
365 a month isn't that bad though. That is around what most of my friends out of undergrad pay while making the same amount of cash.

I guess I'll just have to cut down on strippers and coke. *That is a joke for any of you adcom people. I already got one facebook message for being inappropriate*

No, it really isn't that bad. I think I'm more annoyed with the principle of the whole matter. People outside of healthcare seem to think that all doctors are crazy wealthy. I don't get it....I wouldn't say a resident making $45,000/year with $125,000 in debt is "wealthy."
 
No, it really isn't that bad. I think I'm more annoyed with the principle of the whole matter. People outside of healthcare seem to think that all doctors are crazy wealthy. I don't get it....I wouldn't say a resident making $45,000/year with $125,000 in debt is "wealthy."

Yea, well it is kind of an image that was built up over years. It wasn't too long ago (15 years) that many doctors were making bank for respectable hours. I always use my dad as an example. I grew up in a small midwest town. The average home cost around 100,000 dollars there. That was an ok sized house too. Our house was around 300,000 when we bought it and was considered a mansion by many of my friends. The average income for the area was around 35k...the town was bleeding out pretty bad. My dad, who tends to work 11-12 hours a day was clearing the mid-6 figure mark for a while. We were filthy rich compared to much of the town. We didn't drive flashy cars compared to other areas, yet my 97 jeep was still considered a rich kid car. If you make more than double another person's income, they will consider you rich. They don't see the fact that my dad worked his arse off and was AOA in his class, spent about 5 years in NYC trying to support his family on 400 dollars a month. (That was the resident's salary then) Then going and doing another fellowship. They don't see the random lawsuits, CME conferences, journals, or all the hours he puts in. They don't pay attention to him not going on trips because he was on call. All they see is him getting into his brand new car and driving to the large house with a pool, or splurging on really nice trips when we had the chance.

I'm now in an area with kids that make me look like poor child, but I still consider myself very well off. Even if you drive a beat up toyota and live in a shanty, there are plenty of other doctors that are living above their means with no intention of paying off all of their debt to screw up perceptions. All you have to do is look at some of our family friends with the private fishing pond, movie theatre in the house, brand new corvette, and all sorts of other fun toys to recognize that.
 
MossPoh, good post, I agree with you....👍

I would say that the average American has no idea of declining reimbursements, the cost of malpractice insurance, overhead costs, etc, that eat into a doctor's eventual take home pay.

Growing up, I knew that doctors made good money, but all the people I knew to be wealthy were in business, mostly corporations (also, I have very few friends with parents who are doctors). I think because of that I don't really get why people think of doctors as rich. But an individual physician making $150,000/yr (not a stretch) is still somewhere in the top 5%-ish of incomes for persons in the US, so....yeah, that's up there.

It's all a matter of perception. To some people, $150,000 is more money than they will see in all of their lives; to others, it's not really all that much. For myself, my biggest concern is that while I am leaning toward primary care, I don't want to get stuck in a situation where I feel inadequately reimbursed for the job I am performing.
 
People always assume that they are going to pay more in years 2, 3 and 4. This isn't totally true. Your tuition will rise as you go through school but you will have expenses in your first year such as a laptop that you won't have in the later years. You might also get into rotations where housing is provided. In addition you might find better deals on housing, find roommates etc.

In year two you have boards to pay for. $500 for COMLEX and another $500 for USMLE if you take it. In year three, you may end up doing some away rotations and you can't count on free housing and food. Besides, you still have to pay for a place to live and travel expenses if you go somewhere. Travel isn't cheap these days. Oh...and there's the PDA and software that you really don't want to be without. In fourth year you have the written boards, another $1000 if you take both, and the physical exam portion which will cost you over $2000 with travel expenses just for COMLEX. Plus, you do a few audition rotations and start adding up the expenses for interviews and applications and you could easily spend another 5 or 10 grand. It really doesn't get LESS expensive.
 
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So, I think I was focusing so much on getting into school that I put the cost issues in the back of my mind. Now that I've been accepted to CCOM (and hopefully PCOM), I'm starting to wonder what kind of person can afford to take out almost 300K in loans for 4 years of school. At that rate, I don't even feel like primary care is an option. People keep saying it's just going to be ok, but I don't think anyone actually knows that. Costs are incredibly high, and physician salaries are pretty much flat-lining, and might be on their way down depending on what happens with health care in the future.

Is everyone else just trying not to think about this?

I understand your dilemma. Touro-NY will cost me 63k/year equaling 252k in 4 years while NYCOM, if I get accepted, will cost me 72k/year = 288k in 4 years.I'm saving 36k if I attend Touro-NY. I still have till Friday to make a decision and send them(Touro-ny) my deposit of $2,000 which I can't afford to lose. I wondering if NYCOM is worth that extra 36k.
I will say that CCOM is a great school. I haven't heard any complaint about the school here on SDN. NYCOM ,on the other hand, is a mix bag.
 
If you have a good relationship with your parents and they own their own home, I'd suggest asking them to get a home equity loan or, if they are 62+, ask them if they would be willing to get a reverse mortgage. These options will save you $1000's in interest compared to a standard federal student loan, and I'm sure there are plenty more options.
 
Does anybody know much about loan forgivenesses for primary cares doctors? also, my uncle is an orthopedic surgeon and he had his loans forgiven for practicing in an underserved area. He lives in a large city and just drives about 30 minutes to work. Just some ideas to help people not stress so much.

If you're willing to go to Wyoming, anywhere in the state, the state has loan forgiveness programs for all specialties. I've never lived in Wyoming, but, IMO Northwest Wyoming has some of the most beautiful mountains I've ever seen.
 
One smart home purchase can pay for medical school.

I hope this a joke. While investing in a home is usually financially wise, you'll be hard pressed to get enough loan money. For one thing, as someone who owns a home, you don't realize how much money it takes to maintain the home. The mortgage is hardly all you need to take into account. I would recommend that anyone considering buying a home think long and hard.
 
I hope this a joke. While investing in a home is usually financially wise, you'll be hard pressed to get enough loan money. For one thing, as someone who owns a home, you don't realize how much money it takes to maintain the home. The mortgage is hardly all you need to take into account. I would recommend that anyone considering buying a home think long and hard.

It's not a joke. You don't have to buy a home while in medical school. But if you're a doctor, one day you will likely buy a home, and one day that home will likely pay for your medical education.

Don't stress. You're not going to be selling tacos. You're going to be a doctor.
 
I plan on stripping my way through med school. 😀

For those of you looking into buying homes, avoid condos. They're hard to sell when you're ready to leave.

A cool idea might be to look into buying a duplex and renting out the other half. Maybe even to a fellow med student?

Duplexes are pretty cheap now (mostly because everyone is buying condos) and they're readily available in most areas.

In my town, all of the VetMed students live in a trailer park next door to the Vet college. It's a nice community, they can walk to work, and most VM4 students can sell their trailer to a VM1 or VM2 student when they leave. During your interviews, ask around and see if there are similar opportunities.
 
anyone know of a job from which i can earn $300K over the next 9 months?
i have a BS in Human bio and Masters in med science+research
kgr8thnx

I heard Porn pays pretty well
 
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I would also note time value of money and the tax advantage of debt and interest payments as a high income earner. Paying low interest debt off as soon as possible is not the correct financial route as some have suggested, rather invest the money in a higher yielding investment and use that money to pay the monthly payment. It is not uncommon for students to take the advantage of the low interest rates student loans typically offer and put the excess towards other investments yielding a higher rate (typically business students with low moral character =P).
 
I would also note time value of money and the tax advantage of debt and interest payments as a high income earner. Paying low interest debt off as soon as possible is not the correct financial route as some have suggested, rather invest the money in a higher yielding investment and use that money to pay the monthly payment. It is not uncommon for students to take the advantage of the low interest rates student loans typically offer and put the excess towards other investments yielding a higher rate (typically business students with low moral character =P).
👍 theres an idea.
 
all that includes inflated cost of living. If you budget and manage your $$$ right, you can certainly lower the cost from the estimated budget.

Things suck if you have a kid(s) and have to worry about mortgage and other stuff. I dont know how they do it....

You could always date a rich bf/gf & live in for free & enjoy the high life !!
 
Not gonna happen. Loan deferrals for residents end after next year, so anybody carrying debt during their residency will be required to make payments.

So your numbers need to be re-crunched to accommodate for the fact that any given resident starts making loan payments a month or so after they graduate from med school. The new, income-based payments, start at $365/month. I suppose residents can choose the forbearance and watch their debt climb if they so choose.

When did that happen? So residents have to start making payments on loans, that's gonna suck. Do you think hospitals are going to increase the stipend amount? I bet the amount of moonlighting is definitely going to increase.
 
When did that happen? So residents have to start making payments on loans, that's gonna suck. Do you think hospitals are going to increase the stipend amount? I bet the amount of moonlighting is definitely going to increase.

http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008/06/16/prsb0616.htm

Will hospitals increase the stipend? No. They get $110,000 to train each resident, and maybe $42,000 of that goes to pay said resident. With more and more hospitals having financial trouble, there's no way residents will be getting a pay raise anytime soon.

The minimum payment for residents will be $365/mo, which isn't terrible but hey, it still kinda sucks.
 
For those who are worried about med school loans need to first go get debt and then consult a financial advisor (a good one). Rich people are rich because they have debt and are making their money work for them someway somehow and always finding loopholes.

My current roommate is over 500,000 in debt but lives like a king with his M6 and several homes. If he can do it, then why can't I?
 
For those who are worried about med school loans need to first go get debt and then consult a financial advisor (a good one). Rich people are rich because they have debt and are making their money work for them someway somehow and always finding loopholes.

My current roommate is over 500,000 in debt but lives like a king with his M6 and several homes. If he can do it, then why can't I?

Have you not watched the news, or read any newspapers, maybe for six months? Just curious.
 
Have you not watched the news, or read any newspapers, maybe for six months? Just curious.

yah I have... and I've made couple of hundred bucks taking advantage of it.

seriously guys, find yourselves good experienced (fee-based) financial counselors and you'll be a lot happier in the long run.

Rich people are still rich even in times like this. Its about being smart about your debt and taking advantage of opportunities like these.
 
Not gonna happen. Loan deferrals for residents end after next year, so anybody carrying debt during their residency will be required to make payments.

So your numbers need to be re-crunched to accommodate for the fact that any given resident starts making loan payments a month or so after they graduate from med school. The new, income-based payments, start at $365/month. I suppose residents can choose the forbearance and watch their debt climb if they so choose.

I am looking at the debt fact card from the AAMC and from what I can tell you should only pay $365-$500 per month during residency. It does say during a 4 year residency ... so what happens if you do a 5 or 6 year residency? Do you have to start paying the full 10yr payment plan rate?

Also, I take that during the residency that your loans continue to rack up 6.8% APR.

Is the AAMC debt fact card available online up to date for those graduating in 2013???
 
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