Why You Shouldn't Base Your Choice of School or Specialty Soley on Loan Debt

[Dr JPH]

Maybe she should get the troll of the week award.

I would say thats fitting.

I think she just sorta went off the deep end or something. Weird. One minute she is somewhat coherent and then boom...nonsensical

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[Dr JPH]

I thought your post was intelligent. You know its only the inflammatory posts that get addressed in threads like this.

I agree. MJB did offer an important insight to the conversation.

Unfortunately the OP couldnt keep it together mentally and things fizzled out and turned into this.

 

[Dr.Inviz]

PS Dr.Inviz. your kind of a cocky little SOB. Have you even applied yet? Can't wait to see how you interview.

Don't start apologizing over PM like another poster did when I sent the hammer at him.

 

[HarveyCushing]

Thanks.

Sorry MJB. My comment was direct more towards the JP vs. Tweety battle.

 

[MJB]

Congrats on the house, engagement, etc...JP.

I have a friend rotating in Philly, but can't remember which hospital(s). They moved out there from KC last summer after his first 2 at KCUMB.

I'm a big fan of the no money down home loans with as cheap as mortgage rates are right now.

Oh, and I have pretty thick skin (both literally and figuratively!)...no worries, and I was just messing with Harvey a bit...

 

[TweetyPie]

Well, I'm hesitant to post in this firestorm.... especially when I come from the other side of the tracks, but I also have done research into some of these loan replacement programs and what I've found (only done research in the midwest) did not make me real happy. I attend a state school that offers a very generous loan repayment program which I used to be apart of. I decided I didn't want to make a decision as to what field I would work in as a first year med student and so I backed out.
So I did a little research as to what government programs (in the midwest)would repay my loans if I made a commitment after residency. The most I could find would repay $30K a year. (Other than military) Some states limited that amount to 2 years.
My loans will be nearly $300K when I graduate med school and interest will initially add about $30K a year. My loans will be greater than $400K when I begin paying them off. The loan repayment programs would only be covering the interest. Doesn't sound all that great to me. My school program was much better than that. They were covering my $36K tuition plus giving me $15000 in a yearly stipend.
Obviously I don't know anything about what hospitals or the military may offer, but state programs in the midwest weren't real generous.

Fed/state programs are completely different than the private group practice/hospital employed tuition payment/loan repayment programs.

It is true, the agreement you sign with the government is much more restrictive....but hey, are you surprised, it's the government. But don't lump that in with the private practice/hospital employed incentive. I imagine the fed/state programs will appeal to more people who are already from an underserved area who want to return.

 

[Dr JPH]

Sorry MJB. My comment was direct more towards the JP vs. Tweety battle.

Battle?

It was no contest! JP WINS!

 

[Dr JPH]

Fed/state programs are completely different than the private group practice/hospital employed tuition payment/loan repayment programs.

It is true, the agreement you sign with the government is much more restrictive....but hey, are you surprised, it's the government. But don't lump that in with the private practice/hospital employed incentive. I imagine the fed/state programs will appeal to more people who are already from an underserved area who want to return.

Holy **** are you still going?

I have one for you:

"And thou would shutteth uppeth or feel the wrath of my footeth in your asseth"

JPHazelton 4:20

 

[MJB]

I've got an email in to a physician recruiter in our area that I'm curious to see if I get a response to...

lilnoelle...I keep forgetting you're technically OOS...thus, the higher tuition bill.

 

[TweetyPie]

I appreciate since there are quite a few that state not to worry about paying off your loans. How it is so easy to find a hospital to pay back your loans. That your loans should be the last thing to worry about. While I'm not even a MSI yet, I don't want to go into this blindly and without an idea of how to get out of debt. I have no interest in picking a field of medicine solely for money, however that is one of the factors that I need to consider especially with $300k in loans. I just don't see how a hospital will be willing to pay a FP ~$130k/yr and take up $300k worth of loans. Just doesn't seem like it works that easy to me.

JFYI, most docs practice in single-specialty/multi-specialty groups these days.

 

[Dr.Inviz]

Fed/state programs are completely different than the private group practice/hospital employed tuition payment/loan repayment programs.

It is true, the agreement you sign with the government is much more restrictive....but hey, are you surprised, it's the government. But don't lump that in with the private practice/hospital employed incentive. I imagine the fed/state programs will appeal to more people who are already from an underserved area who want to return.

Anyone who quotes John Quincy Adams and the Bible in one sig should automatically be silenced. Quit your yapping as you've already been tanked.

I guess those patients from your psych ward rotations really got to you hard ...

 

[Dr JPH]

I guess those patients from your psych ward rotations really got to you hard ...

Theyre contagious dont you know

 

[spicedmanna]

. . .with all other factors being equal use the remaining sole factor of tuition as a deciding factor for not attending a particular school.

Yeah, I understand what you mean; I vaguely recall perusing the thread you mention on UNECOM. However, it occurs to me that all "other factors" are rarely, if ever, equal, so it's pretty much a moot point in reality, or at least a theoretical exercise at best. Anyway, I don't see the big problem in choosing the cheaper of two schools, if all "other factors" were equal between the two and in the unlikely event that my gut feeling was that I could be happy at either of them. If I can be happy at either one, and I considered both schools equally good using my own criteria, then I can probably live with the cheaper choice for four years. But, again, things are rarely ever equal.

Now, I would choose my field a little differently, though, because I need to live with my field my whole working life. With any luck, I will outwork my debt. I'm going to choose primarily based on what gets me up in the morning. If I don't have that, then my life is lost. What was the point in all that school, if I can't wake up happy each day? Forget about it. I do want to make an informed choice, however, knowing full well the consequences of each choice.

 

[HarveyCushing]

Anyone who quotes John Quincy Adams and the Bible in one sig should automatically be silenced. Quit your yapping as you've already been tanked.

I guess those patients from your psych ward rotations really got to you hard ...

I bet she likes Fox News.

 

[Dr JPH]

Now, I would choose my field a little differently, though, because I need to live with my field my whole working life. With any luck, I will outwork my debt. I'm going to choose primarily based on what gets me up in the morning. If I don't have that, then my life is lost. What was the point in all that school, if I can't wake up happy each day? Forget about it. I do want to make an informed choice, however, knowing full well the consequences of each choice.

 

[HarveyCushing]

I'm going to choose primarily based on what gets me up in the morning. If I don't have that, then my life is lost. What was the point in all that school, if I can't wake up happy each day? Forget about it. I do want to make an informed choice, however, knowing full well the consequences of each choice.

Great post spice and well put. I wonder if 3rd year will give us the exposure to make an intelligent decision? Seems like 3rd allows you to narrow it down to 1-2 and 4th year allows you to do some sub-i's before apps/interviews start. Can one really know if you would enjoy something after a 1 month rotation? I guess you can get a general idea, but medicine as an attending will be completely different than it is from the viewpoint of a 3rd/4th year or a PGY-2.

 

[Dr JPH]

Great post spice and well put. I wonder if 3rd year will give us the exposure to make an intelligent decision? Seems like 3rd allows you to narrow it down to 1-2 and 4th year allows you to do some sub-i's before apps/interviews start. Can one really know if you would enjoy something after a 1 month rotation? I guess you can get a general idea, but medicine as an attending will be completely different than it is from the viewpoint of a 3rd/4th year or a PGY-2.

3rd year will give you an idea of what you like but youre right, electives is what sells you on something.

 

[tkim]

This thread has derailed. Closing.

 

[TweetyPie]

Tweety...tell me again how I deleted my posts?

You have already lost all credibility with anyone reading this thread.

Time to pack it in and admit defeat.

Okay, juvenile. That's the third reference to what I have no problem admitting was my faux-pax (remember...."comfortable in my own skin"). It happens to all of us, now doesn't? Yet, we aren't talking about the IT workings of this board are we?