[speeddemon]

(06-04-2013 11:31 AM)DVY Wrote:  

Mark my words, Medical school is going to be the next bubble. Salaries are being squeezed, medical school is getting extremely expensive, residency programs barely pay enough to keep you afloat in the interim, and doctors are graduating older and older (shorter working life).

Medical school is already extremely expensive outside of a few state schools here and there. However, things are getting worse because:

1) There are no more subsidized Stafford loans, meaning interest starts accumulating the first day after you get your loan.

2) Stafford unsubsidized loans have interest rates of 6.8%. The Stafford loan limit is $224,000 lifetime. Almost all private schools and many state schools have costs of attendance above this figure, which is absurd.

3) GradPlus loans have interest rates of 7.9% and are used for loans past the Stafford loan limit.

4) The higher initial debt burden makes it impossible for students w/o parental support to start paying back loans during residency.

[Hotwheels]

Quote:

Of course, this is assuming you want to buy a car. If you've got good credit, you could lease a couple of new cars for similar monthly prices, lower in some instances (example: a Ford Focus for just $199 a month). Either way, you can cut that car payment down quite a bit.

You don't become a Dr. to lease a Ford Focus.

[DVY]

@Athlone- Yes you are right. This is do-able if you can swallow your ego, but you finish all this schooling and the natural instinct is to splurge.

1 point of contention- Carson sucks. Not that safe. Its far from everything. You are going to be sitting on congested freeways in traffic for hours and hours. For a person on-call, this is not a viable option. I get your point though. Live below your means- aka rent.

Sad story. Dudes finish creme de la creme of school, expecting the world, and having to eat shit for a few more years. Eat shit for 12 years (college, med school, and residency) then come out and have to eat more shit. Alas, the brave new world we live in.