Debt Problems

how much debt does a family physician come out of college with?

I'm an undergrad, and I was wondering how much debt a doctor is usually stuck with? I want to be able to go abroad with my wife and do medical work in a third country. I don't want to come out saddled by to much debt. If you have any ideas as to how I can be able to bring a medical skill to a developing country, I'd appreciate it!

Public Comments

1. a fair bit. Assuming you have no debt coming out of college, 4 years of medical school will cost from about 110,000-140,000 dollars. If you go on to become a family practioner, you can then begin making decent money right away, for anything else you will also need at least 3 years of residency, where you will be paid very little (~30,000 a year) for working 60 hour weeks, making it very hard to begin paying off much debt.
2. $120,000 of debt with a monthly payment of about $700- 800.
3. My wife had about $30,000 of debt, but her grandparents had set up a trust. Typical nowadays would be $100,000 to 200,000. Note that during your 3 years of residency, you are no longer paying tutition, but your "stipend" is only $35k or so and while it is enough to live on, is not enough to pay back loans. You are allowed to defer loans during residency and most do, but it accrues interest. Ways around that include: Join the army (navy, AF, etc). They'll pay for med school and up the stipend in residency. But then they own you for (?) 5 or 7 years. I know a neurosurgeon in the AF from residency. 10 years ago, I thought that he'd be stationed in a really tertiary-care setting (Walter Reed, etc). But he's in Iraq doing brain surgery, etc. Of course they try hard to keep docs safe and they don't send them out on daily patrols. But still. Go to an underserved population. Alaskan Native hospitals many years ago offered $120,000 salary, room and board, $30,000 loan forgiveness/year (which is non-tax), moving expenses, 4 weeks of paid CME (those conferences are always in nice places) plus 4 (or 6?) weeks of paid vacation. Sweet, financially. And what are you going to spend money in Barrow or Dillingham? So a few years of that and you are back on your feet. Underserved could be a Indian reservation in the SW or a farm town in the fly-over states. Doing extra ER shifts during residency. But residency is brutal enough as it is. Or join a private practice stateside for 3-5 years, but continue to live like a college student (no Lexus for you). Beat down the debt and put some money in the bank. But it is tough to have partners enjoying the good life while you struggle along. There's a doc up here who bicycles to work and doesn't carry malpractice insurance so he can do 3 or 4 months of free surgery in Africa each year. One effect of med school debt is it pushes people into speciality medicine to more quickly pay back their loans. And discourages people from alturistic forms of medical delivery as you aspire to. Best wishes. There are ways to do it. -David