How to Get Rid of Your Medical School Debt?

As you begin your path in Medicine, you soon realize that this is not a cheap profession to get into as costs keep pilling up.  With tuition already around $50,000 a year on average, when you compound the rent for the apartment, the gas to get to all your rotations, and the cost of successfully completing STEPs and books, over 85% of all Medical School graduates have some form of debt by the time they graduate the program.  The highest average debt reported in the US for Medical training in 2014 was $259,177 in a 4-year span for students attending the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine.  Yes, it is true that DO programs typically are most costly than their MD counterparts, but on average, most MD residents can also find themselves in over $200,000 of debt and with Resident salaries barely exceeding $50,000 a year, it is no surprise that students face a tall task of trying to climb out of these monstrous debts.  While selling a kidney or yourself (that's a joke!) is always an option for some additional money, I'll present some of the more realistic approaches that my colleagues and I use to try to combat our massive debts and find financial freedom.  

Number 1:  Research and Find the Right Loan-Program for You 

I cannot advocate for one loan plan over another just because everyone has a different financial set-up to consider when you are attempting to get out of debt.  Some of you may already have children, multiple properties, or the nice Mercedes that you have to consider and that would make some loan repayment options more advantageous for you than others.  

This Loan forgiveness program takes monthly fees from your salary check and in 20 years, without paying any more money additionally, you could be free of your debt.  Payments can be as little as $290 per month and gives young doctors more flexibility to use their meager incomes for other necessary items.  What is advantageous about this payment plan is you can target the accrued interest rates often adjoined to these loans so you won't have to deal with a debt payment ballooning after a few years. 

The one good thing about begin a young doctor is that your credit rating lurches in a positive direction because of the new "security" around your accounts. When you were a student, government loans would have a low interest rate but usually the sum would not be enough to cover all expenses so students would have to take out private loans as well.  Now that you have a Doctor title, it will be much easier for you to walk into a bank and get another loan to pay off your debts and have the added bonus of having a lower interest rate in order recover from the "red" more rapidly.  

Two Other Flexible Ways to Find Some Additional Cash to Pay off Your Medical School Dept 

Number 2: Medical Writing 

This is an idea that a lot of young residents consider to make some additional money so they can pay off their debts more quickly, I would know because I am doing this "write" now.  Many online magazines and newspapers want to hire medical professionals to give insight on common topics that plague their readers and pay a reasonable sum of money to make these articles happen.  For residents, they are often interesting topics that are related to the health field and can be written quite quickly.  Another benefit is the flexibility that comes with this type of employment where residents can whip out a few articles at a time on their off-days and make some additional money to pay off their loans.  

Another enjoyable aspect of this type of job is that residents can use these articles as a platform to educate a large number of readers and potential patients about some unhealthy habits they may do.  Unfortunately, the system is not set up where patients and doctors are able to have hour meetings to discuss a number of health-related issues and only pertinent education is done that just deals with the patient's ailment.  Through articles, a young physician can inform a larger number of people and hopefully alter some behavior to a more healthy manner.  

Residents are commonly asked by medical schools about their advice for STEPs, Matching, and Resident Life in general.  Most residents are willing to share this information to all those who ask.  Being able to write articles dealing with this material is rewarding for me because I can reach a larger audience and potentially give some advice to someone on the other side of the planet who I would not have ever met in person.  I utilized a lot of online resources and forums when making my decision to enter Medicine so if any of my feedback or experience can help someone else make up their mind, I am glad to have helped them make such a tough decision.  

READ 8 Things They Won’t Tell You about Medical School

Number 3:  Tutoring 

This is another potential way for a young medical doctor to make some extra cash on the side in order to help pay off his loans. Residents are tasked with educating patients, younger residents, and even medical schools every day about the important facts about relevant diseases.  It is a natural fit to teach outside of the hospital too if there is enough time to launch such a venture.  This can range from teaching material in science to younger children to something much broad like teaching a language.  This can be done at homes or even on Skype and can provide a much larger form of additional income to offset those large loans.  

I have a few friends doing this approach during their holidays or off-days and they can make a very respectable income moonlighting as a tutor on-line.  They are able to make their own schedules based on their availability and can make about $2,000 extra a month if they can do this consistently.  Although in the grand scheme of things, that is not a large sum of money but considering the average salary of a resident is $52,200, an extra $10,000 can go a long way in paying off bills and loans to make this time much less stressful.