<p>Are there residency programs that pay the interest on student loans during residency?</p>
<p>D1 was here last night and kept talking about 0% loans during residency. From what i could glean one of her student specialty interest groups had speakers yesterday and the speakers talked about a range of topics (malpractice, fellowships, work hours, finances). D1 is insisting that there are residency programs which pay the interest on any student loans a resident has while they are working for certain programs (chiefly at academic hospitals). </p>
<p>If this is true, then it may change how we finance D1’s med school.(More loans, less cash payments.)</p>
<p>Regarding surgeons and shoes:
DD had orthopedic surgery a few years ago. When the surgery was over and her surgeon came out to speak with us, she was wearing knee-high rubber boots–the kind that I’ve seen commercial fishermen wear. I’m glad we didn’t see that BEFORE the surgery, as I think we would have been even more anxious.</p>
<p>My father was a general surgeon who practiced in a small town for about 40 years. Every day he left wearing highly polished dress shoes. I have no idea what shoes he wore when he was in surgery, but now I’m curious and will ask him next time we talk.</p>
<p>You can defer student loans during residency but I have not heard of any program paying interest-at least not selective specialties.</p>
<p>That said, I do know that many internal medicine/family practice programs actually paid residency interview travel expense (not the case with surgery) so maybe these same programs offer the interest payment as a further incentive to enter their field of study and program. That’s only a guess btw…nothing other than the aforementioned interview info to base it on.</p>
<p>D has something called Income Based Repayment. She pays what they say she can pay based on her resident’s salary. She has enough money to live, travel some, and pay her loans. Luckily her car is paid for and H knows a guy who keeps it running. </p>
<p>Regarding the shoes… D wore tennis shoes or Dansko shoes during her surgery rotation. The Danskos clean up well. :)</p>
<p>Yeah I’m pretty sure the deferments for residency ended a few years ago. What you get now is IBR (Income-based repayment). I think there are one or two other programs you can get, but strict deferment is out, AFAIK. The nice thing is that the vast majority of residencies should qualify for public service debt forgiveness, which is a program that forgives the balance of your debt after you make payments for 10 years while working for a non-profit institution.</p>
<p>I’m going to have to figure all this out in the next few months, but that’s my understanding as of now.</p>
<p>Not true. My son’s Med school loans are in forbearance. He’s in a six year residency which will be followed by at least another year of research and a two year fellowship meaning any “real” income is a long way off. </p>
<p>He’s living in one of the most expensive cities in the US and his current approx $51k salary barely covers living expenses. I’m still paying for his car, insurance, cell phone and more.</p>
<p>Internships and residencies are both acceptable criteria for forbearance. His program administrator handles all the necessary paperwork for the residents in their program.</p>
<p>mcat2,
“Regarding memory, I notice my short-term memory becomes worse as the years go by.”
-I do not call it worse so to speak, I call it very efficient purging, yes, we are getting more efficient over the years…or maybe I have much more positive attitude than most…</p>
<p>^That also would be barely enough for my D. even living in much cheaper city. After tax, it is about the same as she spends currently on living while at Med. School</p>
<p>Somemom, I was under the impression forbearance is NOT interest free and that interest accumulates during forbearance. Our FA office recommends doing the income-based repayment during residency, and seriously considering working for a nonprofit so that after ten years the rest of the debt is absolved. My residency will start 2015.</p>
<p>^^^^^OMG! $2100, is he in DC or NYC (manhattan?)…</p>
<p>Son is big on budgeting so that would be something he would factor in…something he did for med school to keep his loans low. Geez, at $2100 per month you are right how would he be able to pay those off any time soon on $51K?</p>
<p>Son has a nice 2 bdr/2bath in Chapel Hill for $700 and splits it with a roomie who pays a little over $400 and he pays under $300 a month with free parking, 24 hr gym and pool. The med school and med center has shuttles that run every 15 minutes 7 days a week for free for students and residents. Its all linked to their student card, so no parking fees or hassles for the school or the med center. Picks him up outside his townhouse door and drops off at med school doors.</p>
<p>And since the buses have special routes they don’t get caught up in the traffic or bad weather (doesn’t happen often but nice when it does!)</p>
<p>Maybe this is why many of the med students remain within the UNC system for residency or Duke’s. The shuttels run between UNC and Duke as well. Many students have roomies that are Duke and UNC students.</p>
<p>So for my edification how much is one expected to pay back per month for their med school loans? is it a certain amount per $1000?</p>
<p>I am sure son knows but since he is the one paying for everything I don’t like to be to nosey…are there choices?</p>
<p>Do different residencies pay different amounts? Is it just straight pay or are there other things in the compensation?</p>
<p>I do know between his rent, food, utilities, internet, phone, gas and insurance (car and renters) he is spending about $580 or a little less per month. But moving somewhere where $51K will barely cover some off it might make him pause.</p>
<p>Kat-- I’ve looked at the resident’s contract for the state med school here. (You may be able to find a school’s by googling the name of the med school + house staff + benefits or + contract.)</p>
<p>At our the state school here, all residents get paid the same regardless of specialty. There are other elements in the compensation pkg besides salary–insurance, leave, education benefits, free gym memberships, travel reimbursement, promotion policies, etc. (BTW, our residents are unionized. Not sure this makes any difference.) </p>
<p>D1 wants to stay here because she like the location and understands the local cultures. Also likes the low COL and outdoor access, but she understands that to pursue her career path she may not be able to. She’s already been in discussions with the residency director about what she can do to increase her odds of getting an EM or surgery slot here. (School only takes 2 EM residents from in-state and 2-3 surgical residents from in-state. And those usually go to married students with children attending local schools.)</p>
<p>Never said he can’t make ends meet…said he couldn’t start repaying loans and expect to live.</p>
<p>And just for grins…$51K is $1961.53 per 26 pay period BEFORE taxes…with Fed,state and city taxes net is FAR less…so it’s not a stretch to say that it’s tight.</p>
<p>Public transit doesn’t run at 4 AM when he’s often heading to the hospital and being in a safe neighborhood is important when leaving/returning home in the dark in scrubs. The time of day he is traveling and the fact that he has residency assignments in 3 other hospitals this year-two of which are suburban necessitates a car and $ 180/mo parking near his home.</p>
<p>That said, he was able to buy a condo taking advantage of doctor loan programs that make his 578 sq ft condo a “steal” at about $1650/mo all in…that is if you consider $275K for 578 sq ft a “steal”… ;)</p>
<p>^yikes, sounds like he has quite some expenses! I’m glad you bring this up; I’ll definitely remember to include a thorough investigation into cost of living and loan repayments into my residency search.</p>
<p>^ I would guess $51k includes all expenses.</p>
<p>Let’s do some math in a very simplified way, without including the accrued interests:</p>
<p>Let’s round it down to $50k per year. For 4 years, the cost would be $200k. If a student graduates with, say, $150k in debt, it means $50k is from Bank of Mom and Dad. Not bad, as $50k is about the COA for one year of private college education. It’s worth it if the parents can afford it.</p>