How do people pay for medical school?

[mkel34]

This is not a political rant so please dont flag me. It may be worthwhile to research the forecasted pay of doctors in regards to new government proposals/regulations. I know many in the health care industry are currently taking large cuts in pay. Read up on current Canadian doctor pay vs US doctor salaries as we seem to be moving to a similar health care system.

 

[westjones]

This is not a political rant so please dont flag me. It may be worthwhile to research the forecasted pay of doctors in regards to new government proposals/regulations. I know many in the health care industry are currently taking large cuts in pay. Read up on current Canadian doctor pay vs US doctor salaries as we seem to be moving to a similar health care system.

I wonder what medical school costs in Canada. If they make less, then it would seem like the cost of a medical education would have to be less...since it appears that to be a doctor a huge part of your income is going to be going to pay off loans.

 

[IloveDMB]

I have been embedded in a military community for 25 years. If he joins the military with the hope that they will send him to medical school he is dreaming. Most the military doctors are here because they could not find residency positions. My ex is a doctor (research pathologist) he joined after medical school as he could not find a 4 year residency, the army was the only one. He paid for medical school himself with alot of loans and I am sure that he is still paying them off. They do have programs that will send promising young officers to medical school but it is usually only 1 position with hundreds of officers applying for it. This is not going to work out in his favor and he will probably be miserable on active duty and make all around him suffer too!!

This is absolutely wrong. While I did not join the military to pay for medical school, I have plenty of friends who did. This is how is works. You sign up with the branch of military that you want to join. You sign up for a certain amount of years. If you choose all 4 years of medical school, they will pay for all 4 years and then you owe them at least 4 years of military service, and that does not include residency.

Then after graduating, there is the whole residency issue. Each branch of the military has their own residencies. You can do a military residency if you match or you can apply to do a civilian residency. Not everyone who applies to do a civilian residency gets approval. In your daughter's boyfriends case, he would need to do an internal medicine residency first, and then a fellowship, so he would have to look up whether the Navy even offers an allergy and immunology fellowship. If not, he can do his residency, give the Navy his years that he owes them for paying for his medical education, and then do the fellowship.

I took out massive loans for medical school and I'll probably be paying them off forever, but I love going to work each and every day, so it's worth every penny.

 

[A_Princess'_Daddy]

Oh I guess I am trying to say that I know it is up to him and he needs to figure it out what is best for him. I know he wants to be a doctor and I wish him the best. But what bothers me, is my DD told me he is now planning to join the military to pay for medical school BUT he does NOT want to do this. And I am hoping he has other options and I hope the school works with students to give him advice. I do not know enough about this field to be able to give good advice. If he wanted a PhD or masters degree in something like business or social sciences.....that my DH and I understand. But medical school is something we do not know about.....and how the military works in regards to helping you get that degree....we do not know, but what I do know is that if you are only joining to get the medical degree and you do not want to be in the military, it seems like you will not be a happy person during those years. For some, they want to do this. I have a friend whose son was very excited to join the Navy and is in it now and loves it. And for him, I am very happy. But for this boy, who says he doesn't want to be in the military but sees it as his only option to get a medical degree...I hope he has other options.

OK, I get it now. Somehow I didn't catch the part about him not wanting to serve in the military but thinking it was the only way he could do and thought that he was fine with the idea because it would be less expensive.

I can certainly understand not wanting to serve in the military, and would agree with others that if he's averse to debt, has a dream to be a doctor, and is willing to provide service to the world in exchange for his education and to do so will defer some income-earning years, a program whereby he provides medical service to an under-served community may be a better route.

Good luck to him, whatever path he chooses to follow!

 

[Bilberry]

Some information I read this evening on the average medical student debt. Thought to share.

"Danger Sign on the Student Loan Bubble"

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/11/28/danger-sign-on-the-student-loan-bubble/

Snippet from Bethany Mandel's article:

...The average graduating law school student at the California Western School of Law owes more than $153,000 and over 89 percent of students graduate with debt of some kind. Students graduating from Columbia University and Georgetown University graduate with an average of more than $132,000 in debt. The average amount of debt of all graduating medical students is more than $160,000 and students graduating from seven schools in the U.S. walk away with at least $200,000 in debt on average. ...

 

[westjones]

Some information I read this evening on the average medical student debt. Thought to share.

"Danger Sign on the Student Loan Bubble"

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/11/28/danger-sign-on-the-student-loan-bubble/

Snippet from Bethany Mandel's article:

Interesting article.

 

[Saphire]

My son is a doctor, and it has been a long, grueling road. But he is practicing now and out from the pressure of school and residency. You really, really have to want it and be focused, devoted, organized, driven, and bright. You don't have to be rich. There are ways to afford a Medical degree.

Scholarships exist for medical students. There is also the option of going to a State school, which is 2/3 less than a Private school. When you graduate, there are programs that promise debt forgiveness if you work in under served areas of the country or the world.

There are other ways to reduce cost, and there are advisers to help when you gain acceptance to medical school. But it IS expensive. Paying back the loans over 20 years is daunting, but the salary is also very good. And it seems to be a recession proof field. A good choice if you have the heart for people and the guts to persevere through training.

 

[Pamlur]

My step-daughter's ex-husband did go through med school "on the Navy's dime". After med school, he did one year residency, then served four years in the Navy, then completed his residency. They paid his tuition and a stipend for living expenses.

He was a mediocre student, couldn't get his first choice of med schools, ditto residency selection. I don't know exactly how he managed it, but he did. He is deceased now, and had a less than stellar medical career; I think there was some mental illness there. He would have been in his early 40's now.

 

[mnrose]

http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/09/16/how-much-they-pay-for-it/

This is Canadian tuition in 2010.

For comparison, this is what I could find about US medical school tuition, same years MUCH higher. Nearly double for average public, and three-four times as much for privates.

http://gradschool.about.com/od/medicalschool/f/MedSchoolCost.htm

 

[NotUrsula]

Allergy and immunology is most definitely a medical field. It is a subspecialty of internal medicine. He would do a residency in internal med then a 2 year fellowship in allergy/immunology.

CLINICAL immunology is, absolutely, but in the field of immunology in general, there are fewer folks working in clinical practice than there are working in research.

The organization I work for hires quite a few research immunologists; they do work on the genomics of viruses. We presently have about 30 of them, mostly Ph.D. postdocs but also some folks with only an MS. It is very possible to do important work in immunology without obtaining an M.D. if that is financially out of reach.

 

[Agent7]

The cost of medical school coupled with the changing landscape of medicine in the States is one of the reasons I've decided to go for a PhD instead. I'll still be able to work in the subject I like and help people but I'll be behind the scenes now. But the people I know who are going to or want to go to med school are taking out loans. Lots of loans. I know one person who did military and loved it but you have to want to be in the military.

Also while med school is cheaper in other countries you often have to be a citizen of that country or you'll pay a lot more. (Although some schools, in the Caribbean for example, don't charge more but the student body is mostly American.).

 

[ColoradoMom!!]

I guess I'll add a bit. My brother is an ER doc currently practicing with Kaiser. He did not get accepted to his first two choices of med school - he applied in state. After teaching for a year in Middle School - he was motivated and thought - what the heck, I'll just apply to Mayo and Georgetown - what have I got to lose?

He was accepted to both and completed his med school at the Mayo Clinic in MN. My parents paid for his first year of Med school - and then it was go Navy or go home. His experience was overall very good. He moved a lot, but fulfilled a dream of being a flight surgeon in FL (a little top gun never hurt) lived in about 4 different places before settling at Camp Pendleton for a while. Married after 4th year of med school, now has 5 kids and one adopted.

Never served over seas, but was called to service away from home to cover after he left active duty and went reserves - but that was his choice - to join the reserves. One stint on a carrier - but it was 4 weeks max I think.

Finally, military life as a DR. is different than enlisted. They never have lived on base (although as an Air Force brat - our years on base were my favorite). So don't dismiss it to soon - at least have him talk to current military Dr.'s for a better idea.

 

[westjones]

Personally, I think the PhD option and doing research sounds way better.....but then I don't share an interest in going into medicine. Thanks for all of the information. If and when we are ever in a conversation about all of this I will feel much more informed now.

 

[DVC-Don]

My primary doctor has had his practice for 22 years and recently told me that he is ALMOST done paying his loans off.

 

[Pipkin]

$350,000 isn't cheap, but it can be easily repaid if one is making $200,000 a year, and many specialties do, but more importantly, choosing a career based solely on the expense, without looking at the return on the investment and the passion one will have for the career is a recipe for disaster and an unfulfilled life.

$350K is equal to a mortgage amortized for years. In addition to that, physicians have to have a house to live in and if they open a practice, there are expenses there as well. Pediatricians do not start off making $200K per year. Other specialties do not either. Those who depend upon the elderly (Medicare) are seeing their reimbursements cut substantially. $350K is not "easy" to pay off. The military is a great way to go. I know physicians who did not avail themselves of the opportunity to serve, but then decided afterwards to join the reserves, National Guard, etc and serve. The military needs good and caring physicians.

 

[westjones]

My primary doctor has had his practice for 22 years and recently told me that he is ALMOST done paying his loans off.

Wow....that is a long time.

 

[westjones]

$350K is equal to a mortgage amortized for years. In addition to that, physicians have to have a house to live in and if they open a practice, there are expenses there as well. Pediatricians do not start off making $200K per year. Other specialties do not either. Those who depend upon the elderly (Medicare) are seeing their reimbursements cut substantially. $350K is not "easy" to pay off. The military is a great way to go. I know physicians who did not avail themselves of the opportunity to serve, but then decided afterwards to join the reserves, National Guard, etc and serve. The military needs good and caring physicians.

Isn't there also a high cost for malpractice insurance? Maybe it is paid by the hospital if you work for one (I really don't know).

 

[beachbunny]

Both siblings are doctors. Neither paid a cent for medical school. First one is super smart and got a full scholarship to a top medical school. Second one had a masters and was working for the state. The state paid in-state tuition for medical school conditioned on him working for them for a few years.

 

[GS for life]

$350K is equal to a mortgage amortized for years. In addition to that, physicians have to have a house to live in and if they open a practice, there are expenses there as well. Pediatricians do not start off making $200K per year. Other specialties do not either. Those who depend upon the elderly (Medicare) are seeing their reimbursements cut substantially. $350K is not "easy" to pay off. The military is a great way to go. I know physicians who did not avail themselves of the opportunity to serve, but then decided afterwards to join the reserves, National Guard, etc and serve. The military needs good and caring physicians.

I am in a pediatric sub specialty that is the lowest paid, with starting salaries between $80-100,000. You must make the decision whether you wish to mortgage yourself for your chosen career path or the chance that the military will dictate your possible choice. I have friends who love being in the military and others did not. It is a personal choice to make.
Again, I love my job for the most part. I work in an academic center for a private practice and am salaried. I see patients, teach and do clinical research plus volunteer for Girl Scouts. By the way, allergy immunology is also a pediatric sub specialty but the fellowship is 3 more years rather than the 2 for adult medicine,

 

[Pipkin]

I am in a pediatric sub specialty that is the lowest paid, with starting salaries between $80-100,000. You must make the decision whether you wish to mortgage yourself for your chosen career path or the chance that the military will dictate your possible choice. I have friends who love being in the military and others did not. It is a personal choice to make.
Again, I love my job for the most part. I work in an academic center for a private practice and am salaried. I see patients, teach and do clinical research plus volunteer for Girl Scouts. By the way, allergy immunology is also a pediatric sub specialty but the fellowship is 3 more years rather than the 2 for adult medicine,

The military is certainly not for every body. I was commenting on the poster who said that a huge ($350K) student loan can "easily be paid off" when the physician begins to work. Everyone thinks that most physicians make TONS of money and nothing could be further from the truth. You are an example of that. I am guessing that you work well above 40 hours a week as well, whether you are seeing patients, preparing to see patients, research and study, etc. Congratulations to you for being so dedicated and volunteering too.