Comments on: Health care reform should address student debt

By: alicia

alicia — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:44:41 +0000

my med school raised tuition by 7% this year, 3-4% previous years. they tell us this happened because the state is broke. despite having 15+ deans for one medical school making more than $200k a piece.

the required health insurance that the school sells us doubled from MS1 to MS3 (that’d be $3000 a year, that covers … nothing).

not only do we get screwed on loan interest rates, but we get origination fees too!

i’m graduating with $240k. i consider myself “lucky”. out of state students who did a master’s before matriculating may reach half a million. my state school costs $28k a year in tuition. $52k if you are out of state. that’s NOT including living expenses. i’m taking out $55k a year for tuition and living expenses.

i try not to think about it. i suppose that’s bad. but it gives me a panic attack just looking at it.

By: Medic Facility blog on health » Blog Archive » $295,000 In Medical School Debt… Why do medical schools charge students so much money?

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:19:47 +0000

[...] Rob Centor: “Why do medical schools charge students so much money? It was not this way when I went to medical school. I paid an average of $1000 per year in the early 1970s. Using an inflation calculator, that would become around $5000 per year in current dollars. Yet that same school and most state schools charge 3 times that much.” [...]

By: Where’s the competition in health insurance? MedCity Morning Read, Feb. 25, 2010 : MedCity News

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:33:56 +0000

[...] debate, let’s throw another on the pile: medical school debts. DB’s Medical Rants shares the story of one med student who will graduate with nearly $300,00 in debt, and interest charges will push [...]

By: Stalwart Hospitalist

Stalwart Hospitalist — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 05:17:11 +0000

Part of medical school tuition inflation derives from the subsidization of student loans by the federal government; this leads to medical schools raising tuition because they know the students can get the loans to pay it. I think we are now seeing the breaking point of that phenomenon, because the same federal government that subsidized the loans for the medical education is introducing ever more reductions in reimbursement for those professionals once their training is complete.

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TwittLink - Your headlines on Twitter — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 03:47:31 +0000

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By: amy

amy — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 02:23:39 +0000

There is a bubble in education, the same way there was a bubble in the housing market. If the physician income decreases (very likely), it will be difficult to justify economically going to a medical school, even if you really love medicine. Reality will prevail. Also, if you socialize a market too much while other markets remain free, eventually the smart kids will fly to the free markets.
Medical schools will face very soon a harsh economic reality and they will have to adjust. The goose with the golden eggs is dead.

By: tm2010

tm2010 — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 01:38:10 +0000

Tuition at an instate school is in the neighborhood of $16-17,000, plus living expenses has students borrowing either the max allowed or close to it, which would be $35-40,000 per year. Students going to private schools are paying double, or more tuition prices.

Also, small correction, medical school is 4 years, so that $226,000 is ~$55,000/year. Plus you have to figure in interest.

By: Liz

Liz — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 22:26:46 +0000

How much does medical school cost now? $226,000 for 3 years would be $70,000/ year… is that really what it is?

I went to a state school in the 70s that cost $900/semester. That is why I can afford to be in primary care I guess.

By: anon

anon — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 22:24:29 +0000

Does the congress and public know that several thousands of foreign medical students entering this country to gain residency here and allmost all of them are debt free when they start residency!!!! Why are those countries able to educate their Med students ( ironic that some leave their country with degree though) without loading them with debts??? when we have enough students here interested in MED SCHOOL why dent them and then turn around and import them for residencies. We are so foolish!!!!!!!

By: Michael Kirsch, M.D.

Michael Kirsch, M.D. — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 21:45:25 +0000

Medical school tuition (and private college/university tuition) is obscene. Med students facing enormous debt will be further repelled from primary care, where they are needed. If medical school tution is to be subsidized, where will the money come from? Who will give up tens of millions of dollars every year to make medical school affordable? While the ultimate objective is noble, I see no clear pathway to achieve it. http://www.MDWhistleblower.blogspot.com