$295,000 In Medical School Debt

Produced by HuffPost's Eyes & Ears Citizen Journalism Unit as a part of the HuffPost College Student Debt series.

I am currently a third year medical student and already $226,000 in debt because I'm out-of-state and have no other means of funding my education except through loans. I'll graduate with at least $295,000 in debt, an amount that will only increase as interest accumulates during residency training and over my 20-year repayment period.

The thought of starting life with such a huge debt is very frightening, especially since I plan on going into primary care and not a lucrative medical specialty or subspecialty. Primary care physicians are grossly underpaid compared to many specialists, yet they work longer hours and have to deal with the administrative burden associated with insurance companies. As a result, the number of medical students choosing to pursue primary care as a career is declining each year. More and more, students are taking debt load and lifestyle into account when making career choices.

My goal is to help increase the public's awareness of medical student debt and its impact on health care. The American Medical Student Association (AMSA) has implemented legislative proposals for creative solutions to medical student indebtedness and the growing shortage of primary care physicians.

I encourage you to read more about our efforts and join in pressuring our leaders in Congress to act quickly in addressing these issues:

Comments

[anesthesia84]

03:41 AM on 04/03/2010

Here's a solution to the shortage of primary care physicians and surge in consult driven practices (that are increasing our national health costs)...interest free 30 year loans for US medical students and stricter monitoring of why med schools charge what they charge by the LCME.

[JGurung]

11:48 AM on 03/09/2010

If you have to write most of the 8 comments to your article to explain it further, the article is not well written. You seem to write articles and comments the same way you rack up debt: without thinking.

[frekkieb]

01:19 AM on 03/10/2010

I did not write most of the 8 comments to explain my article further, just posted my replies to ignorant comments like yours.

[JGurung]

03:55 AM on 03/10/2010

4 comments from others and 7 comments from you. I rest my case.

[Angelus2007]

04:59 PM on 03/06/2010

I don't want to come off as insensitive, but you had other choices. You could have deferred and became a resident of the state. My fiance did this when she went to Rutgers Law, she go her undergrad from Pitt, and was accepted to Rutgers, deferred for a year, and got a NJ Drivers license worked in NJ and became a resident. I understand the will to complete your education as fast as possible, but that comes with costs. You also mentioned room and board and food ect. I am currently pursuing my Doctorate ad The George Washington University, and would love to get it over as fast as possible, but instead chose to only takes loans for classes and work. My fiance did the same thing her first year in law school (took 2 years), she went part time. After that she went full time, working a few hours a week for spending money since I got a decent job and could support her.

I applaud you for wanting to do primary care, and wish you luck in completing your degree, but there are options.

[frekkieb]

03:52 PM on 03/08/2010

You're entitled to your opinion angelus but when I got into medical school three years after
graduating college, the last thing on my mind was to sit out another year and find work in the state of Virginia just to become a resident. It takes a minimum of 7 years to become a practicing physician, so at 25 and as a female with other life plans besides career (marriage, family, kids), I couldn't have been more thrilled to get started on my career right away.

And I'm not sure what your point is regarding room, board and food-- that you and your fiance took out loans only for tuition, went to school part-time and worked for spending money? well, there's no such thing as going to medical school part-time-- it's a full-time commitment , extremely demanding and time consuming! And did you see where I also mentioned that it's incredibly difficult to work while in medical school and actually discouraged? even working a few hours a week with no other source of funding would not be enough to cover my rent, insurance, books/equipments/exams, and other living expenses despite my modest student lifestyle.

So, do your research on medical education and be careful when judging because our situations are very different. I would love to hear of the other options besides working while in medical school and trying to gain in-state residency prior.

[Dr Kurt]

02:56 AM on 03/17/2010

I think we all make choices and have to accept responsiblity for them.

I could've saved tens of thousands of dollars joining the military, doing my residency in a less desirable location (my college had loan forgiveness if you were a graduate and did your primary care residency with them), joining the indian service, yadda yadda.

Not electing to become a resident is also a choice. BTW, I entered medical school at 29 and have plenty of years of practice still ahead of me.

I am happy with my choices, because it wasn't all about the money. Yes, I'll be paying off longer, but I'm living where I want and my own boss. I live somewhat modestly compared to my colleagues who seem to be always stressed about money.

[Dr Kurt]

02:50 AM on 03/17/2010

I'm an internist and also deferred med school to work in Texas so I qualified for in-state tuition.

I had a lot of offers to stay in Texas and have my tuition paid for. I wish I'd done that but elected to do my residency in Oregon.

I'm still paying off the remainder of loans but I went back to my home state where I still practice today.

[Bonaboman]

08:15 AM on 03/05/2010

First, please accept my early congratulations for when you graduate. I'm on the Board of a community hospital in a semi-rural area in the MIdwest. I can assure you that if you sign a five year employment agreement with a hospital like mine, your tuition will be paid by the hospital and you'll earn more thatn $150,000 per year to start. Because you selected a major/profession/practice that is in demand, don't worry about your debt.

[frekkieb]

03:53 PM on 03/08/2010

Thanks Bonaboman for your comment, it's very encouraging. I didn't know such opportunities exist.

[frekkieb]

12:24 AM on 03/02/2010

Hi, I’m the author of this story (Ifreke Williams). Some insensitive comments were made on the main college debt article - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/22/college-debt_n_471023.html, suggesting that students with high debt made the choice to take out these massive loans, had alternatives, could have gone to community colleges or state schools, instead wanted to go to “cool” expensive schools, were irresponsible, etc. Here are excerpts:

jwoww
I have no sympathy for anyone not being fiscally responsible. there are affordable quality schools that many of these kids could have attended and a lot of other options than living on campus or not working during school.

niko73
Here's one thing that might reduce what students have to pay to go to college today: Stop going to expensive schools. We consumers have power. There are many good, cheap schools out there. University of Idaho and Wyoming are great schools, and their tuition is quite affordable. There were plenty of students attending U of Idaho from Oregon because it was cheaper, even paying out of state tuition. Let's dispense with a myth where you get your degree matters. Unless it's Harvard, it doesn't. Employers don't care whether you got your degree at University of Colorado for $250,000 or University of Northern Colorado at $50,000. But kids want to go to the "cool" colleges and they want to go where their friends go.

I'm reposting my reply to these comments here to add to my story (See Below):

[frekkieb]

12:02 AM on 03/02/2010

My Response:

To "jwoww" and "niko73" who seem to think that we students got ourselves into this debt mess by not being "fiscally responsible" and had alternatives, well I've got news for you-- not all students have the option of finishing school with little or no debt. There aren't that many "good cheap" graduate and professional programs out there, you know for those of us who want to further our education beyond a bachelor’s degree and become lawyers, doctors, dentists, pharmacists, engineers, teachers, etc. I am one of the students featured above in this Huffington Post College Debt Project/Article (Ifreke Williams with $295,000 in medical school debt).

I went to a state university for college and because I had scholarships, I was lucky enough to graduate with very little debt. Afterwards, I went to medical school because I wanted to become a primary care physician-- you know the first doctor you run to when you're sick. Getting admission into medical school is very competitive and some students don't have a choice as to where they go. I was accepted into three medical schools but not my state school. The average tuition/fees at public medical schools is about $25,000 for in-state students and $40,000 for out-of-state students. Tuition at most private medical schools is about the same or just a little more than that of out-of-state students in public medical schools... (continued below)

[frekkieb]

11:57 PM on 03/01/2010

On top of this, you need money for living expenses, health insurance, books, equipments, board exams, etc. This amount is usually estimated by your medical school financial aid office and added to the tuition/fees to determine your overall cost of attendance. You cannot borrow federal student loans beyond the cost of attendance set by your school, whether you’re married, have children, live alone, or with roommates. If you need more money, you have to go the private bank/alternative student loan route and that comes with its own set of problems.

The cost of attendance for my first 3 years of medical school as an out-of-state student has been between $69,000 - 76,000. Keep in mind that it is incredibly difficult for medical students to work while in medical school due to the rigorous academic curriculum, in fact working is highly discouraged by the administration. A few scholarships are available based on need, academic achievement, career choice and donor-specified causes, but it's not nearly enough to go around or make that much of a difference in your debt load. Unless of course you're in the military or a scholarship/loan repayment program such as the National Health Service Corps (NHSC). NHSC is highly competitive and requires a service commitment to work in underserved/rural areas immediately after completing residency training, a clause that deters some students (myself included) from applying given the uncertainty of their future plans right after residency… (continued below)

[Sudi Narasimhan]

12:30 PM on 03/09/2010

Hi Frekkieb,

Have you ever questioned why your medical school degree has to cost so much?

I mean couldn't all the information you are learning be taught by cheaper methods? Just like call centers are outsourced, couldn't your education be re-engineered to be taught at a much lower cost per student, while getting the same level of knowledge and expertise? Why does the AMA have the power to set up a monopoly on the number of doctors trained each year in each field?

Shouldn't suppy meet demand in an open market place? They fact that you have to go into debt by 300K is sickening and my opinion is why should you be the last sucker in this pyramid scheme? Shouldn't there be another way.

Best regards,

SN

[frekkieb]

11:51 PM on 03/01/2010

So, if you don’t have rich parents that can not only pay for your tuition but also provide money for your living expenses (rent, food, bills etc), books & other resources, you have to take out loans. My family doesn't have the means to pay $40,000 - $76,000 for each year of my medical education, and I receive minimal scholarship. What option am I left with? That's right - LOANS!!! Oh wait, I could have also just given up on my dream of becoming a doctor instead of incurring $295,000 in debt. I guess that's the price I pay for wanting to help people.

For more information, please visit:
https://services.aamc.org/tsfreports/select.cfm?year_of_study=2010

http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/about-ama/our-people/member-groups-sections/medical-student-section/advocacy-policy/medical-student-debt.shtml

http://money.cnn.com/2007/11/16/pf/young_doctors.moneymag/index.htm

http://www.doublex.com/section/health-science/ill-stick-long-waits

http://www.amsa.org/AMSA/Homepage/About/Committees/StudentLife/DebtSolutions.aspx

http://www.amsa.org/AMSA/Homepage/About/Committees/StudentLife/PCSolutions.aspx