Take these steps before you enter medical school to ease the financial burden – and your nerves. Students should pay off credit card debt before they start medical school. Medical school can be a major investment of both time and money. I asked my senior students what financial information they wished they'd known before applying to medical school. The first tip may be obvious, but you may be as surprised as I was by the others. 1. Avoid credit card debt: Several of my students shared that they had no idea how credit card debt accumulated during their undergraduate years would affect the cost of applying and interviewing for medical school. They now realize they paid more heavily in real dollars, because of interest, for interview expenses such as airline tickets. If you owe several thousand dollars or more to a credit card company, it’s easy for costs to spiral out of control. The more you spend and the more your debt increases, the more you’ll pay in interest. It gets harder and harder to repay credit card debt. Ultimately, the credit card company wins, and you lose. 2. Rethink taking a gap year: Some of my other senior students questioned in retrospect whether they should have taken a gap year. Potential lost wages are an important consideration, and gap years count. Although one or two years may not seem like much, Association of American Medical Colleges data revealed the median cost of private schools as $278,455 and public schools as $207,866 in 2013. If you view the most recent medical student admissions requirements, you can find the current tuition at schools for which you plan to apply. Sadly, tuition has risen in the interim three years. One article states that "doctors are half a million dollars behind in real and potential losses, all by their early thirties." Although that sounds discouraging, it is important to read about potential income loss, particularly if you are increasing the time before you start medical school. The article also examines physician salaries, years in school and specialty training. It also looks at whether or not earning more than $75,000 a year significantly improves your day-to-day happiness. This financial reality might serve as a stress test to see if you really want to go into medicine. 3. Consider state or public schools: When it comes to medical school, it appears that you may not always get what you pay for. I encourage you to review school rankings and examine the findings. For example, the U.S. News & World Report 2017 Best Medical Schools rankings do not read from the most expensive down to the least. In fact, it is interesting to see the dramatic differences in the cost of the schools. You can find lists of the most expensive medical schools. Some sites ask you to consider whether your goals are primary care or research, and suggest schools where you can get the most value for your money. The most recent list of expensive medical schools I found did not list tuition increases, which made me question if the schools are embarrassed about tuition hikes and are perhaps trying to make this vital information harder to find. The article “Do Elite Colleges Lead to Higher Salaries? Only for Some Professions” from The Wall Street Journal reviews whether or not it is worth the extra money to attend elite schools versus public or state schools. The conclusion? The elite schools came out ahead for literature and arts degrees. And, to my surprise, public schools offered the same, if not better, value for students in science, technology, engineering and math. Although some of this information will not overjoy you, it is important to enter medical school with your eyes open. As hospitals begin to receive reimbursement in different ways, some physicians won't be paid the high salaries they receive today. Other physicians, such as those in primary care, may receive a small gain. Medicine is a wonderful career. It may not bring you the same monetary rewards that others received in the past, but the chance to make a difference in someone's life is priceless, and that still matters to me. Source
