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higher education has outpriced the job market all across the board. that big fat student loan is no longer a good investment.
consider VE at jr college, my favorite pick RN, totally doable at jr college level. ask me how.
I've read about various statewide medical school loan forgiveness programs (mainly for underserved communities) and have a couple of questions:
First, is qualifying for these programs predicated on having a student loan in the first place? To put it another way, is it to the best interest of someone planning to avail of such programs to use loans as much as possible to pay for med school (ie, it makes less sense to pay for these costs out of pocket)?
Underserved communities - Is it common for this to apply to inner city hospitals in poor areas or are these by and large rural?
I've read about various statewide medical school loan forgiveness programs (mainly for underserved communities) and have a couple of questions:
First, is qualifying for these programs predicated on having a student loan in the first place? To put it another way, is it to the best interest of someone planning to avail of such programs to use loans as much as possible to pay for med school (ie, it makes less sense to pay for these costs out of pocket)?
Underserved communities - Is it common for this to apply to inner city hospitals in poor areas or are these by and large rural?
The program you are referring to is the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), which was founded in the 1970s. Generally speaking, you are correct- it allows for forgiveness of your loans if you go into a "primary care" field and serve for a certain number of years in an "underserved" area. Not sure how the government defines either of those categories.
You can do a google search on the NHSC to get more information, and if you look at a forum called "Student Doctor Network" (SDN), they have a sub forum on it on there.
I think the overall consensus is that sometimes, people regret their decision to join and end up becoming "trapped" because there are pretty severe penalties for breaking your contracts (I think you have to pay back your loans in 3X the amount). Also, the Govt may actually assign you a location to work, but I am not sure about that.
Thanks. I looked at the NYS DOH website and it already started with the term "physician loan repayment". I guess this premises that one should have funded med school with loans to begin with (otherwise there would be nothing for NYS to repay).
Being a doctor isn't really "worth" the money, but the lifestyle is one that might appeal to people if they choose to work with other people's health. The money issue isn't so big of a deal these days when you could make the same working in the oil fields or writing blog posts through your 20s then investing it all. By the time the med student is out of residency, that investment would churn out about the same amount of money the doctor is making if you included your own salary from working.
It's either work hard "labor" for 80 hours/week for 8-10 years then "relaxing" with an office job or study for 80 hours/week for 8-10 years then "setting your own schedule" while paying off the loan for another 5-10 years. At the end of the 18 or so years, both would be getting around $150k+/year in their early 40s. Not counting specialties since either person could do that and earn more
I've read about various statewide medical school loan forgiveness programs (mainly for underserved communities) and have a couple of questions:
First, is qualifying for these programs predicated on having a student loan in the first place? To put it another way, is it to the best interest of someone planning to avail of such programs to use loans as much as possible to pay for med school (ie, it makes less sense to pay for these costs out of pocket)?
Underserved communities - Is it common for this to apply to inner city hospitals in poor areas or are these by and large rural?
Good question, though I believe you are skirting the race issue. In America, there are more white people in poverty by virtue of there being an approximate 7-1 greater population number. Blacks of course per capita suffer greater % wise, but in most cases, "underserved" means minority, not ability to pay/economic. This of course is not fair and is actually discriminatory, but that seems ok as far a s liberals are concerned.
As to the overall question, if Obamacare is allowed to stand, the medical profession, especially those at the top of the food chain, will not enjoy the financial rewards previous MD's did. It is already starting to have an effect with practices hiring NP's, NA's and PA's to see patients for regular/routine check ups.
higher education has outpriced the job market all across the board. that big fat student loan is no longer a good investment.
consider VE at jr college, my favorite pick RN, totally doable at jr college level. ask me how.
The big mistake a lot of med school students make and why med school gives so much "Debt" is because they blow $260,000 on a BS.
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