Med School Leaving Students Broke & Broken?

QUESTION: Why is med school so expensive?

ANSWER:

To understand the reason behind the steep cost of medical school, there has to be knowledge of the various additional factors beyond the already shocking sticker price. Medical school costs and debt does not begin and end with the actual four-year education and additional residency training that students go through to become a doctor.

Graduates also accumulate expenses related to application fees, lab fees, hospital scrubs, the cost of living, transportation costs, licensure fees, student loan repayment, malpractice insurance premiums, private practice expenses, and continuing education costs.

For some, being unable to pay off student loans after medical school and during a residency can lead to seriously ballooned debt and added charges in the most extreme cases, which might include deferred loan payment charges, default fees, and compounding interest rates.

The type of medical school also factors into the high costs, with overall, the cost to attending public medical schools being generally less than a private school education. According to the AAMC report the median tuition costs for the 2014–2015 academic year for private schools was $53,714, versus $34,540 for public.

The location a student chooses to attend medical school (and ultimately practice as a physician) also affects the price, plus the return on investment for a student’s education.

According to an article titled Residents: Will They Ever Pay Off Medical School Debt?, residents in the Southwest and North Central regions of the U.S. tend to face the largest amount of debt, as opposed to medical graduates with the least amount of debt who attended schools in the South Central-, Northeast-, and Mid-Atlantic regions, and the West.

Cost vs. Reward:

With the promise of generous job growth and the constant need for medical care, physicians are some of the highest paid professionals in the US. On one side, medical students have the benefit of wealth and lucrative job opportunities waiting in ahead, it’s just the hindering cost that goes along with it all that poses a burden for those who ultimately want to help people.