alt Hacker NewsIf "only" 30% of graduates are graduating with over $300k in debt, that means that of the 30,000 graduates that graduate from both allopathic and osteopathic programs each year [1] there are almost 9,000 physicians that are high debt graduates. At high interest rates, that debt can easily grow by hundreds of thousands of dollars while you complete a residency program.
The resident salaries that you listed are an average taken across all specialties. Family Medicine is the lowest paid specialty with 2026 PGY-1 salaries at $58,500 (representing an increase of over 15% since 2021) [2] That is simply not enough to pay the cost of living in a state like Massachusetts where the median household income is more than double that [3] and the average rent in Boston metro is almost $40,000 annually [4]. Not only can you not afford to pay down your student loan debt, you are extremely likely to accrue additional consumer debt on things like credits cards or vehicles.
My main point is that training to become a doctor carries so much financial risk that it selects against folks from poor socioeconomic backgrounds that would otherwise make great physicians. In 2018 the AAMC published a study showing that 51% of medical school matriculants were from families in the top quintile for family income [5] and if I were a betting man, I'd guess that proportion has only increased.
1. https://www.kff.org/state-health-policy-data/state-indicator...
2. https://www.inspiraadvantage.com/blog/how-much-do-medical-re...
3. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEHOINUSMAA672N
4. https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/boston-m...
> At high interest rates, that debt can easily grow by hundreds of thousands of dollars while you complete a residency program.
Sure. But that’s not what you said. You said you had many fiends that graduated med school with $500k-$750k in debt. I think you were lying or your definition of many was highly exaggerated.
> That is simply not enough to pay the cost of living in a state like Massachusetts
$58k is the national average. Not the average in a high cost of living area like Massachusetts.
> My main point is that training to become a doctor carries so much financial risk that it selects against folks from poor socioeconomic backgrounds that would otherwise make great physicians.
There is almost zero financial risk.
Eventual graduation rate is 96%. Eventual match rate is around 99%.
Are there doctors that could have make more money going into finance sure. Are there doctors who are financially ruined, not meaningfully.
>In 2018 the AAMC published a study showing that 51% of medical school matriculants were from families in the top quintile for family income
1. Doctors kids are more likely to become doctors.
2. High income is correlated with intelligence and intelligence is partially heritable.
3. Kids from high income families are more likely to have extended family and friends who are editors who encourage them to become doctors.
4. Med school requires college and college and children from income families are much more likely to have college degrees.
5. Medical school entrance is competitive and high income kids are much more likely to go to better colleges.
6. High income kids are much more likely to have higher grades in college because they don’t have to work.
7. High income kids are much more likely to go to better high schools which impacts what college they get into and how well they do there.
The list goes on and on. The cost of medical school is so far down that list.